Promises Not Yet Kept
by Kulani Tawanoki
Summary: Sequel to Faded Memories. Naruto and Sasuke return home to find a girl with Eneko's eyes. Is she Eneko and Itachi's daughter and what chaos will ensue if she is? ItaxOC AU Minor OOC...I guess...
1. Chapter 1

Promises Not Yet Kept Chapter One 

Sasuke Uchiha sighed as he walked down the familiar road back to Konoha. He had just killed Orochimaru and Kabuto and was now coming home. He wanted to see Sakura and the rest of his family. It had been three years, three _long_ years with Orochimaru. He shuddered visibly as he thought back on all the things that had happened to him in the past three years and sighed. He was finally going home.

He wondered what had gone on in his absence. Had Sakura finally gotten her job as Tsunade's apprentice? Did they finally carve Tsunade's face into the Hokage Mountain? How was everyone? Did Eneko ever recover enough so she could train again? His train of thought went to his sister-in-law. When he had left, Eneko had been in a serious battle that had nearly killed her. She had only just woken up when Sasuke had had to leave. He sighed again and scratched the back of his head.

"Sasuke! Hey Sasuke!" He heard a familiar voice call. He looked over and saw Naruto running toward him, Jiraiya not far behind. He waved back at the sight of his old friend he thought of as a brother of sorts.

"Naruto! Hey, it's good to see you again, dobe!" He yelled back. Naruto punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"You're not supposed to call me that, remember? Eneko said so. Hey, you're looking good for training under a sannin for three years." Naruto commented. Sasuke had taken it upon himself to learn all he could from Orochimaru while at the same time planning to kill the old snake. He patted Naruto on the shoulder.

"You too, Naruto. Hey, you got taller. You might even be taller than Sakura now." He teased. Naruto swiped at him again, laughing. Jiraiya cleared his throat and looked at the two young men. They had both grown in the past three years. They both grinned at him.

"Good to see you again, Sasuke. But we've got people waiting for us, if you remember, you two. Don't you each want to see your girlfriends?" He implied, motioning to the gates not too far away. Naruto grinned and nodded, wanting to see Hinata just as bad as Sakura. Jiraiya chuckled as the two boys started to talk about training while they walked, sharing techniques and tips.

"Yeah, I've learned a lot of new jutsus. I think training under Eneko was harder than training under Orochimaru." Sasuke commented, remembering the eight months it had taken their group to find Itachi and bring him home. Eneko's whole team had been killed in battle and Eneko had been severely injured. Everyone assumed that she had died too and when Itachi had heard the news he went into a blind rage and killed every member of the Uchiha Clan except for himself and Sasuke. Sasuke had told him to run and when Eneko finally came home, they promised each other they would find him. It took a few years and a lot of training, but finally Eneko, Sasuke and Naruto, who Eneko had wanted to help train, had set off to find the older Uchiha brother. It took seven months, but they finally found him. It took a whole month to get home again and Naruto had gone off with Jiraiya to find Tsunade. Naruto chuckled, remembering the months so long ago as well.

"Yeah. I don't think Jiraiya could survive what we went through with Eneko for only seven months. Do you think she got well enough to train her genin?" Naruto asked his black-haired friend. Eneko and Itachi, after returning home and finally getting married, had become co-captains of a genin team. Eneko had mostly trained them while Itachi went on missions, but they were still a team, and they were getting good.

"I don't know, but knowing Eneko, she'd have been training them from a wheelchair. I just wonder how Deidara settled in." Sasuke chuckled to himself. Itachi had been a part of an organization called Akatsuki until Eneko found him and convinced him to come back to Konoha. Deidara had also been a part of the organization and when Deidara tried to leave, they nearly killed him. Itachi had been on a mission and found him near-death near the gates and brought him to Eneko, who knew medical jutsu. Deidara, being grateful, became a Konoha shinobi and helped Eneko and Itachi on their team's first B-ranked mission. Naruto nodded to himself, remembering as well.

The gates of Konoha appeared before them and they waved to the guards, who let them by, welcoming them back. Sasuke and Naruto grinned at each other and looked around their old home. Things hadn't changed much in the three years both of them had been gone. They had, however, carved Tsunade's face into the mountain. Naruto laughed.

"Baa-chan looks good up on the mountain, don't you think, Sasuke?" He asked his friend. Naruto had gone to find Tsunade and had become good friends with the old sannin. Even though Tsunade was very gruff and stubborn, Naruto brought out the best in people, like always, and convinced her to become the Hokage. Sasuke chuckled.

"So, do you want to find the girls first or do you want to go see Eneko-nee-chan and Itachi?" Naruto blinked and thought about it for a minute.

"We should see Eneko first. She'll want to cook us dinner like she always does and we'll bring the girls so we can all catch up together. Does that sound okay?" The blonde boy asked. Sasuke thought about it and nodded, grinning.

"Wait until she lays her eyes on us. She's going to freak clean out, Naruto." Naruto laughed, imagining Eneko's reaction. They started walking in the direction of Eneko's house, telling Jiraiya he should go talk to Tsunade. They were laughing about an old memory when a little girl stumbled and fell in their path, cutting her arm. She sat up and examined it.

"Ow…" She whined. Sasuke shared a glance with Naruto before kneeling down and bandaging the cut on the girl's arm with a small smile. She looked up at him and Sasuke froze at the sight of familiar green eyes. "Thank you mister." The girl said politely.

"Y-you're welcome." Sasuke stammered. "Tell me, little one, what's your name and how old are you?" He asked curiously.

"My name is Niji and I'm two years old." She answered with a grin. "I was going to the gate to wait for my uncles. Mommy talks about them all the time, and so does Daddy. They're supposed to come back any day now and I want to be there." She replied, giving more information than necessary.

"Well," Naruto said, kneeling down so that he was eye level with the girl. "We just came from the gate. We were the only ones to pass by today. Why don't we go see your mommy and tell her you're okay? She's probably worried to loose a pretty thing like you." Niji giggled and nodded.

"Okay. Mommy likes it when company comes over. She'll like you two a lot. You're nice guys. Come on! My house is this way!" She grabbed Sasuke's hand and pulled him in the direction of her house. Sasuke grunted. This girl was strong for a two-year-old. He looked over at Naruto.

"She's got Eneko's eyes, Naruto. What do you think that means?" He whispered to his friend. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he looked down at the girl. She had black hair and most certainly the same green eyes as Eneko.

"You don't think Itachi and Eneko could have had a kid in the time we were gone, do you?" He asked. Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe. We'll soon find out, anyway." He replied with a shrug and walked alongside the little girl. A familiar blonde man was walking towards them. Sasuke smiled and waved and the man's visible blue eye widened.

"No, it couldn't be Sasuke and Naruto, yeah?" Deidara asked as he came over to the two boys. All three of them laughed and little Niji blinked.

"Uncle Dei-dei!" She called him, pouting. "The black-haired guy helped me. I cut my arm and he put a band-aid on it, see?" She showed him her arm, sticking out her bottom lip. Deidara smiled at the boys and leaned over, pretending to inspect the little cut.

"Yeah, it looks like it hurts, Niji-chan. I'm sure your mommy can heal it up when you get home." He looked back up at Naruto and Sasuke. "Are you two heading over to see Eneko and Itachi, yeah?" He asked, his visible eye gleaming. Naruto nodded.

"So, tell us, Deidara. Did Eneko recover enough to train her genin team?" He asked, a little nervous. Deidara smiled and nodded.

"She even trained me if that gives you any idea about it. Anei, Fushi, and Retsu are all on their way to being jounin, yeah. They're already at the chuunin level with most of your old friends. In fact, I think you two are the only ones of your year to not make it to the chuunin level, yeah." Deidara told them. Niji whined.

"Uncle Dei-dei! I'm taking the nice men to meet Mommy and Daddy." She pouted. Deidara grinned at the little girl.

"Of course, Niji-chan, but the 'nice men' have already met your Mommy and Daddy. In fact…" He put his hand on top of Sasuke's head, making Sasuke scowl. "This is your Uncle Sasuke." He put the other hand on Naruto's head. "And this is your Uncle Naruto." All three pairs of eyes widened.

"Say what? That really is Eneko and Itachi's daughter?" Naruto yelled, shocked. Sasuke's jaw just dropped. Niji looked extremely excited.

"Really? I found my uncles! Yay! Mommy's going to be so proud of me and Daddy's going to be really happy with me! Come on, Uncle Sasuke and Uncle Naruto. Mommy and Daddy are waiting." She pulled both of them along with her. "Bye Uncle Deidara!" She called. Deidara waved and grinned before turning back and going about his business. Sasuke and Naruto just stared at the little girl dragging them along the dirt path. Soon, they were at the familiar wooden house that had some new additions to it. It had the Uchiha symbol painted on the front and a woman was out beside the house, hanging laundry up on a line.

The woman had brown hair pulled back in a ponytail at the base of her neck and her bangs blew over one eye. Her eyes were bright green and expressive. She was wearing a loose kimono-like shirt and shorts. Her shirt had the Uchiha symbol printed on the back of it. She was folding laundry and humming to herself, putting the wet clothes up on the line and taking the dry ones down. A man came out of the house. He had black hair pulled back into a ponytail and dark eyes. He snuck up behind the woman and hugged her from behind, causing her to let out a little cry of surprise before laughing. Niji let go of both boys' hands and ran up to them.

"Mommy! Daddy!" She called. Both people smiled and looked over at her. The man kneeled down and scooped the girl into his arms while the woman laughed.

"Niji-chan, we were worried about you. Don't run off without telling us again, all right, sweetie?" She asked with a smile. Niji wasn't listening, but nodded anyway.

"Mommy, Daddy, guess who I found? Uncle Sasuke and Uncle Naruto! Look!" She pointed at them. Eneko and Itachi's eyes widened and their expressions turned to those of shock. Suddenly Eneko's face broke out into a smile and she ran forward, hugging both boys around the neck.

"You're home! Oh, you're finally home!" She let go of them and took a long look at them. "Welcome back. We missed you so much…" She murmured softly. The boys each shared a look and grinned. They really were finally home.


	2. Chapter 2

Promises Not Yet Kept Chapter Two 

"I'm so happy you two have come home." Eneko whispered as she hugged them both again. Itachi put Niji up on his shoulders and walked over, smiling.

"Good to see you two again. Naruto, nice choice changing the blue to black. It suits you better than that blue color." He grinned. Naruto scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, but grinned anyway. Sasuke chuckled. Eneko smiled.

"I have an idea. You two come over for dinner tonight. Bring Sakura and Hinata!" She exclaimed already making plans in her head and muttering to herself. She turned back to the house, counting things on her fingers and making a checklist in her brain. Itachi looked after her and smiled softly. Niji pulled on his hair.

"Daddy! Why's Mommy talkin' to herself again? She does that when Anei-kun, Fushi-chan, and Retsu-kun come over too." Niji pouted, confused. Itachi grinned up at her.

"Because, Niji-chan, Mommy is making plans in her head and that means she has to talk to herself to keep up with it all." Niji still looked confused.

"Why doesn't she write it down?" She whined. Itachi chuckled.

"Because Mommy is too excited to hold anything to write with. So, say 'good-bye' to your uncles and we have to get ready for a big dinner. Aunt Sakura and Aunt Hinata are coming over." He told his daughter. Niji's eyes widened and she started bouncing up and down.

"Really? Then I gotta look extra pretty, Daddy! Come on, let's go!" She told him, trying to make him go into the house. Itachi chuckled again and looked at Sasuke and Naruto.

"You may want to hurry and find your dates. With Eneko cooking up a storm and Niji knowing her 'aunts' are coming, both my girls will be restless." He smiled. Sasuke and Naruto smiled back. Itachi was a good father and he was obviously patient with the girl.

"We'll do that. And maybe, we can learn more about you, Niji-chan. I'm looking forward to seeing you look even prettier than you already are." Sasuke teased his niece. She blushed and shyly tried to hide behind her father's head, making both Uchiha's laugh.

"Come on, Sasuke. I want to find Hinata-chan!" Naruto called impatiently. Sasuke nodded at him and waved at the father and daughter pair.

"We'll be back soon. Bye Niji-chan!" Sasuke called, waving. The little girl immediately got over her shyness and waved back frantically. Itachi chuckled and started asking her about random things as he carried her back into the house. Sasuke and Naruto shouldered their packs again and started walking through the streets.

"Where would the girls be, Sasuke? I mean, I know Sakura-chan would probably be with Tsunade, who's probably beating up Jiraiya, but what about Hinata?" Sasuke blinked and shrugged.

"Not sure, Naruto. We could try just wandering around for a while, the Hyuuga compound, or the hokage's office. Which one?" He asked his blonde-haired friend. Naruto blinked.

"Can we try the Hyuuga compound first? At very least we could ask Neji where Hinata is, and he'd probably know where Sakura was too." He offered. Sasuke nodded.

"To the Hyuuga compound it is, then." The two boys walked side-by-side towards the large section of the city saved only for the mighty Hyuuga Clan. They were Konoha's most prominent Clan now that all but six were dead. Thanks to a resurrection jutsu, Akari and Fugaku Uchiha, Sasuke and Itachi's parents, were revived. Naruto laughed at an old memory while Sasuke pestered him to find out what he was thinking about. Naruto just kept laughing, which made Sasuke start to laugh as well.

"And who is out here making so much noise?" They heard a sharp, but familiar voice growl. They watched as the acclaimed Hyuuga Prodigy, Neji, walk out of the compound gates. His pale eyes widened to the size of saucers and he smiled.

"It can't be Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, can it?" The prodigy laughed softly. Naruto grinned at the other boy.

"You're lookin' good, Neji. Decided to dress in the full Hyuuga-like outfit? It looks good."

"Thanks. Well, you just missed Hinata, if that's who you were looking for. She went to the Hokage's office to meet up with Sakura." He explained apologetically. Sasuke smiled slightly and nudged the downcast-looking Naruto.

"Well, that's alright. Come on, Naruto. We get to find both of them at the same time if we hurry." He told the other man. Naruto grinned and followed him as he turned down the road again. The blonde waved back at Neji, smiling.

"Thanks a lot, Neji! Maybe we'll get to spar after this clears over!" He called over his shoulder before turning and heading swiftly to the Hokage's office. As they were climbing the stairs circling the outside of the building, they watched as Jiraiya was thrown out of the window and away from the office. Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm and Naruto sighed.

"Don't worry about him, Sasuke. He probably tried to make another move on Tsunade-baa-chan…again." Naruto sighed, continuing up the stairs. As soon as he stepped into the actual building, a pale fist punched him into the ground. Hinata was standing over him, clenching her fist.

"Uzumaki Naruto! How dare you make me worry about you for three years?" She scolded. Naruto sat up, clutching his head.

"Hinata-chan, you've been spending too much time with Sakura-chan." He whined. Hinata laughed and helped him up. Naruto took his first good look at his old girlfriend and his jaw dropped to the ground. Hinata had grown into a fine young woman in the three years the blonde had been gone. Sasuke hugged the navy-haired girl, smiling.

"Good to see you again, Hinata-chan. You're looking good. I think your beauty has shocked Naruto to the point where he's actually speechless." Hinata blushed and smiled back at him.

"Thank you Sasuke. Sakura's in with Tsunade-sama right now, calming her down. Jiraiya tried to 'make a move' on her again." She explained. Sasuke made a face and nodded before going down the hallway. He knocked on the door, confident.

"Enter." Tsunade's voice drifted through the wood door. Sasuke opened the door and stepped inside.

"Uchiha Sasuke, reporting in on the S-ranked 'kill Orochimaru' mission. Mission successful. Both Kabuto and Orochimaru have been killed." He said after saluting. Tsunade smiled and Sakura's mouth popped open.

"Very good Uchiha Sasuke." Tsunade smiled, interlacing her fingers together and set her chin on them.

"One more thing, Tsunade-sama? Don't _ever_ send me on a mission that causes me to live with a pedophile for three years again or I might just go missing one day." He warned. Tsunade grinned apologetically.

"Request granted, Uchiha." She told him. Sakura suddenly launched herself across the room and wrapped her arms around Sasuke, crying.

"I've missed you so much, Sasuke-kun." She cried softly. Sasuke hugged her back, chuckling softly to himself.

"You and Hinata have been spending a little too much time together, Sakura-chan. Come on and let's get back to my brother's house. Eneko's cooking dinner and Niji-chan was excited when she heard that you and Hinata were coming over, so we need to hurry." Sakura smiled and wiped the tears off her face.

"You've already met your niece then, Sasuke? Isn't she just adorable? Eneko announced she was pregnant a little bit after you guys left. You should feel lucky that you missed what the pregnancy caused." She shuddered.

"Eneko on mood swings and Itachi being a royal pushover when it comes to anything about her? Yeah, I'm glad that I missed it." He replied, putting an arm around her waist and leading her outside. "Hey, Tsunade, I'm kidnapping your apprentice." The raven-haired boy told the Hokage, who laughed. Hinata and Naruto were talking animatedly about something.

"Come on, love birds. We've got to get to dinner and fast. Eneko does _not_ need to be kept waiting for very long. You know how she gets." The rest of the group nodded and laughed, each thinking of their own past experiences.

"Yeah. Do you remember that one time that we went to go check something out and got lost, Sasuke?" Naruto asked him. Sasuke groaned.

"Oh, don't remind me. That was awful." Hinata and Sakura laughed. Along the way back to Eneko's house, they were each sharing stories about the family they were about to go eat dinner with. The scariest ones were about Eneko being pregnant and having completely spontaneous mood swings.

"I wonder if they're thinking about having another one. With Niji being as compliant as she is, albeit a little spoiled, I would think about having another one." Hinata admitted. Naruto leaned over and whispered something in her ear that caused her to go beet red. Sakura giggled slightly at the sight of them before Sasuke landed a nibble on her earlobe, causing her to let out a squeak.

"We missed you girls." The two boys chorused, grinning. Hinata and Sakura shared a glance before each kissing their respective boyfriend.

"And we missed you."

"Yeah, a lot." They answered in sing-song voices. As soon as they got to one of the far corners of Konoha, Niji ran up to them and started tugging on Naruto's hand.

"Come on, Uncle Naruto. Mommy told me that you like ramen as much as I do so she made some! Let's go! Mommy makes really good ramen!" She giggled. Naruto, who gained a crazy gleam in his eye when the young girl said the word 'ramen', picked her up and started running, causing her to burst into peals of laughter. The other laughed and ran after him to follow, ready to sit down and reminisce as well as catch up with the past.


	3. Chapter 3

**Promises Not Yet Kept **

**Chapter Three**

"Ittadakemasu, Eneko-chan!" Naruto cried before diving into his bowl of ramen as if he hadn't eaten in three years. Niji stared at him, her big green eyes as wide as saucers as she looked at the eating habits her uncle was portraying. Eneko started laughing and served everyone else's meals. She had cooked everyone's favorites, so everyone was pleased. Itachi watched her suspiciously from his place at the head of the table, being the man of the household. She set everything down, but remained standing, instead of sitting down herself to eat.

"Well, I've got a couple quick things to do, so you all start catching up and I'll be back in a few minutes. Enjoy everyone, I cooked your favorites!" She told them as she turned to leave the room. Itachi crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her retreating form.

"Eneko." He called to her in a stern voice. The green-eyed wind user froze in place. "Sit down and eat with the rest of us." He ordered. She turned around, still smiling.

"But Itachi, I actually have things to do this time." She offered. Itachi gave her a stern glance and she made a face, sitting down beside him. Sasuke looked at her, confused.

"Why don't you want to eat, Eneko?" He asked. Eneko looked over at him, about to give him an answer, before she saw Niji staring at Naruto with her little mouth hanging open.

"Niji-chan, it's not polite to gawk at other people eating." She scolded. Niji closed her mouth and continued staring. Eneko shook her head and looked back at Sasuke. "It's not that I don't want to eat, Sasuke, it's that I can't. Not very well anyway." She explained vaguely. Niji kept staring at Naruto, then finally, she looked down at her own ramen noodles. She picked up the bowl and began to try and copy his movements, eating her ramen in the same way her uncle did. Sasuke, who was watching her attempts, started chuckling.

"Hey, Itachi. Naruto and I haven't been back in town more than a day and already he's taught your daughter something new." Itachi turned away from having a mental conversation with his wife to look at his daughter. His shoulders sagged in exasperation when he saw her.

"Niji, what have you been taught about good manners?" He asked sternly. Niji immediately put her bowl down and began eating properly. Itachi smiled. "Good girl. That's how polite people eat. Don't copy your Uncle Naruto again, alright? He's not a good influence."

"Yes Daddy!" She chirped in response. Naruto gave Itachi a look, ramen noodles hanging out of his mouth.

"That's not nice, Itachi. I am so a good influence, I just don't show it all the time like Sasuke does." This caused everyone around the table to laugh. "What?" Naruto whined. "It's true." He pointed chopsticks at Sasuke and was about to spout off something he'd probably regret before Eneko, who was playing with her food instead of eating it, cleared her throat.

"So, Naruto-kun? Did you learn all of the wind-type jutsu I sent with Jiraiya?" She asked, curious. Naruto swallowed the ramen in his mouth before looking over at her with a mischievous grin.

"Of course, nee-chan. I think I've about got that death's whirlwind technique down. You may need to give me a few pointers, even though I did beat Jiraiya with it." His eyes glinted and she began to laugh.

"I'm sure Jiraiya is so terribly happy with me at the moment." Naruto nodded and everyone around them started laughing. Sasuke poked Naruto in the side.

"Yeah, well you got the easier sannin to train with, I'm sure. You should hear about this one time I was training with Orochimaru and he tried to teach me this technique to blow people up from the inside." Sasuke began explaining the technique as g-rated as possible with a two-year-old in the room.

"Well, did you master the technique or not, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, curious. Sasuke grinned at her and gave her a thumbs up.

"As if I, the mighty Uchiha Sasuke, couldn't master a simple explosion technique. Come on, Sakura, have a little faith in your adorable boyfriend." He grinned as she started laughing. He started explaining a different jutsu that wasn't so bad any more. After a little while of playing with her food, taking a few bites here and there, Eneko suddenly paled considerably, nearly paper white, and stood up shakily.

"I-I'm sorry…I-I'll be r-right back." She stammered before stumbling out of the room. Itachi nudged his daughter gently.

"Niji-chan, why don't you go see if your Mommy needs any help with anything." He suggested. The little girl nodded and ran off to the place where her mother disappeared off to. Sasuke looked a little worried and startled.

"I hope that wasn't my fault. I'm really sorry if it is." He apologized to his older brother. Itachi shook his head, sighing.

"No, it wasn't your fault Sasuke. Eneko has been getting really sick lately and we haven't a clue why." He gave Sakura a look when she looked at him suspiciously. "And no, she's not pregnant." He silenced her. Hinata looked at where the two had disappeared to.

"I hope Eneko-chan is going to be alright." Hinata murmured softly, her pale eyes reflecting the worry that was in her voice. Naruto gave her a playful shove and grinned at her comfortingly.

"Of course she's going to be alright. She's Eneko. Eneko has won almost every battle I've seen her in. She's not going to loose to some little sickness." Naruto replied.

"Yeah, she defeated her father even after she had the Dragon's Genjutsu used on her. And then, if that wasn't enough, she traveled for a full day all because she promised her team and who she considered her family she'd come home and not die." Sasuke commented. Hinata nodded.

"Yeah, not to mention she trained Fushi, Anei, Retsu, and Deidara all to near-jounin level before going to the hospital _again_ for chakra exhaust. I think Eneko can handle nearly anything." Sakura stood up from her spot near Sasuke and nodded slightly.

"Well, I'm personally going to go and see if I can do anything to help her. Maybe I can at least find out what's wrong if not heal her or help the pain or something." Sakura mumbled to herself as she left the room. Sasuke's eyes traveled a little lower than they were supposed to and he grinned, a slight blush on his face. Itachi took one look at him before calmly picking up his cup of tea and putting it to his lips.

"Sasuke." He called his brother out of his daydreams. "Females don't like it when you stare at their backsides." The older Uchiha brother told his younger counterpart calmly. Sasuke's face went a bright cherry red color and Naruto and Hinata broke off into snickers. Sasuke made a face before shaking his head.

"So, Itachi, tell us what's been going on with everyone in Konoha. From what we've seen it doesn't look like much has changed in the past three years." Itachi leaned back slightly, letting the memories make him smile.

"That's because not much has, Sasuke. After a month of being in the hospital because of the wounds fighting her clan gave her, Eneko was up, training team thirteen plus Deidara even when she wasn't supposed to. During that time, I helped a group of people carve Tsunade's face into the mountain. She trained them to near-jounin level in about a month, which completely exhausted her chakra levels. I was called back to the hospital after a mission. Eneko was trying to get out of bed and to get to me, so I came straight over to her. That's when she told me that she had found out she was pregnant. Needless to say, I held up pretty good in the awkward situation." Itachi explained, gaining a proud look. Hinata rolled her eyes at him and looked at the two boys.

"Other than falling over in a dead faint as soon as he heard the news." She added. The two boys started laughing while Itachi gave Hinata a look. The laughing session didn't deter the older Uchiha for long and he got right back in to telling the story.

"Anyway, after she found out she was pregnant, Tsunade ordered her under house arrest so the baby or the mother could get some rest. This drove Eneko crazy. I had fewer missions, thanks again to Tsunade, and took care of her as best I could with all the morning sickness and mood swings. Just before Niji was born, Eneko's mother made an appearance. Remember her father? Yeah, him, I didn't like. Her mother, however, is a different story entirely. Chishi, her mother, helped out with some of the women things, because I knew nothing about it and before we knew it, we had a healthy baby girl. It wore Eneko out, so I named her Niji because I had proposed to Eneko under a rainbow. Chishi helped with the baby while Eneko retrained herself after becoming inactive for so long. Niji grew up so fast and excelled in everything. She is very smart and knows how things work." Itachi smiled softly. "My girls are the most important things in my life." Naruto and Sasuke grinned at each other and Naruto pulled Hinata closer.

"And you didn't have to deal with the snake sannin and won't ever have to again. I killed Orochimaru and his lackey Kabuto. Orochimaru thought he could use mind control on me, but he couldn't, and he paid dearly for it." Sasuke grinned. Itachi grinned back at him.

"Father will be very proud, Sasuke. Maybe now you can join the police force, like you've wanted to ever since you were little." Sasuke grinned and nodded.

"But you unfortunately have to deal with the toad sannin for a while longer." Naruto told them, and then suddenly looked nervous. "Hey, guys, I've been meaning to tell you this for a long time, so just listen and let me tell you okay? It's a secret I've kept since the day I was born." Hinata, noticing the nervousness, squeezed his hand gently.

"Well, we're listening, Naruto. Go ahead and spit it out. If it's not too embarrassing, I won't hold it over your head." Sasuke grinned playfully. Naruto grinned back, and then sighed softly; preparing himself for letting out the secret he's tried to keep for a long time.

"My father was Namikaze Minato. You all know the story of how he died. On the day I was born, there was a great war between Konoha and the nine tailed fox spirit, Kyuubi. The story goes that my father sacrificed himself to kill the beast, but that wasn't the case at all. You can't kill one of the demon spirits, they're immortal. He actually sacrificed himself to seal the beast inside a newborn baby so that it's undeveloped chakra cords could fuse around the fox's spirit. The only thing was, the only newborn baby was his own." Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed together, seeing what he was implying.

"So, what you're saying is that it was you that the fourth sealed the fox's spirit inside?" He asked. Naruto nodded and looked down.

"Don't hate me." The blonde begged. Itachi watched Hinata and Sasuke's expressions change into ones that said 'oh, please,' and smiled. This was just the reaction he had been expecting.

"I don't see why we're supposed to hate you, Naruto." Hinata told him. Sasuke gave him a light punch to the arm, grinning.

"Yeah, get to the part where I get to make fun of you." The raven-haired boy joked. Naruto's eyes widened. He looked surprised beyond words.

"You mean, you don't hate me, even if you know what I've got inside of me?" He asked, bewildered. Both of the others shook their heads and grinned at him. Hinata hugged the boy that she had fallen for so early in their academy years.

"Of course not, baka." She told him playfully. "We all love you for you, not because of how you look or how powerful you are. Just because your father did something doesn't mean we won't love you any less. Something that's beyond your control can't change that." She whispered to him softly. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, same here, only I wouldn't have said it in such girly terms." They all began laughing again.

"You guys are the best, but do you think Sakura will hate me again?" He asked, reminding them that the pink-haired girl had been gone for quite some time. Itachi shook his head calmly.

"No, Naruto. I'm sure Sakura will have the same reaction as Hinata and Sasuke did. You realize Hinata and Sakura have been rubbing off on each other, right?" Itachi grinned. Naruto nodded, grinning at Hinata.

"She doesn't look like she's going to faint as much anymore when she sees me. But then again, I am such a catch." He grinned playfully. She hit him, grinning. Sasuke chuckled lightly before turning back to his brother.

"So, do you have any idea yet of what Niji is, in terms of element user?" Itachi shook his head, but grinned at his younger brother.

"But she has inherited her mother's wings. You see, when someone in Eneko's family is born with that specific kekki genkai, they have two marks on their back. Niji has those marks. We just don't know what color her wings are going to be yet or if Niji will have the tolerance for pain needed enough to use them." Suddenly, Sasuke leapt to his feet, his eyes wide.

"Sakura! What happened to you?" He demanded, seeing Sakura leaning, bleeding against the doorway.

"It's Eneko. She and Niji have been kidnapped!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Promises Not Yet Kept**

**Chapter Four**

"They've been _what?_" Itachi demanded coldly, standing up with his hands on the table. The pink haired girl looked over at him, clutching a gaping wound on her arm.

"I-It was A-Akatsuki…that's what E-Eneko said. I tried to…protect Niji…but it was useless…" She started to collapse before Sasuke dashed over and caught her, preventing her from hurting herself any more than she already was. Itachi's eyes hardened in fury and he slammed his fist on the nearby wall.

"Pein…" Itachi growled dangerously. Deidara pushed the door open, trying to come see what all the commotion was about. His eyes traveled from the broken and bleeding Sakura, to the furious Itachi who was taking his anger out on the wall.

"What's going on, yeah?" The blonde bomber asked, nervous at seeing the enraged expression on Itachi's face. Deidara hadn't seen Itachi so mad since Hidan cursed at the apparently dead Eneko. Naruto and Hinata looked over at him.

"Apparently, Pein from the Akatsuki kidnapped Niji and Eneko." Hinata explained, confusion etched in her voice. Deidara's visible eye widened to the size of moons.

"You've got to be kidding, yeah! Pein couldn't know about us being here." He said in complete shock. Hinata shook her head, telling him that she wasn't kidding. Deidara got an excited expression on his face and grinned. "Well then we've just got to get the two Uchiha girls back!" Hinata stood up quickly.

"I'll go tell Tsunade what's happened." She told them as she ran off. Naruto suddenly got a shocked expression on his face before running to his pack and rummaging through it. Sasuke was bandaging Sakura's wounds and healing her with some justu that he'd learned while training with Orochimaru. Things were flying left and right out of Naruto's pack and Sasuke looked over at him, exasperated.

"What are you _doing_ dobe?" He asked the younger blonde-haired shinobi. Naruto suddenly let out a triumphant cry and pulled out his old headband.

"Got it! Hey, Itachi, Eneko still carries around her fans with her, right?" Naruto asked, obviously excited. Itachi looked at him, confused.

"Yeah, all the time, why?" Naruto grinned and held up his old headband. He poked the village symbol that showed a few sparks.

"We have our charms. Remember? It's how we found Eneko after she was attacked by the ANBU!" Itachi's eyes widened and he smiled slightly.

"Good thinking, Naruto!" Deidara cried from the other side of the room. Sasuke kept bandaging Sakura's wounds.

"I need a few more minutes or these bandages are going to fall off and then it'll all be useless." Sasuke told them from his spot on the floor. Naruto nodded and looked at the door.

"I want to wait for Hinata to get back. If they could defeat Eneko and Sakura at the same time, we're going to need all the help we can get. Even if I _do_ release the Kyuubi's chakra, it may not be enough." He reasoned. Itachi looked ready to go, but nodded all the same, finding the reason in the younger boys' words. Hinata burst back in the door.

"I told Tsunade, now let's go!" She cried. Sakura stood with Sasuke's help and Naruto traced the Konoha symbol with his finger and the beam of light shone forward. Itachi took it from him and took off running, Deidara not far behind. Sasuke was supporting Sakura, who refused to be left behind. Itachi was determined to get his girls back home safely and kept going forward. A thought suddenly came to Naruto.

"Why would the Akatsuki want Eneko and Niji" Naruto suddenly asked as they were jumping through the trees. Deidara glanced back at him.

"Because of Itachi and I. She was the one that convinced the Uchiha to leave and the one that stopped me from dying when they thought they had killed me, yeah." The older blonde replied. Naruto nodded and blinked, not really understanding.

"And Niji because she was there." The raven-haired man spat out venomously. He was still following the beam, leaping from tree branch to tree branch in search of the two girls most important to him. Suddenly, he stopped and disappeared in the dark foliage on the forest floor. Everyone else stopped, confused. They were all looking for him from the branches.

"Itachi? Hey, Itachi, what's going on?" Sasuke called, cupping his hands over his mouth to make himself louder. Everyone looked confused, especially Deidara.

"Itachi, yeah? What happened to you?" He called as well. They heard a rustling in the bushes underneath them and Itachi's voice called back up.

"The light beam suddenly split in two!" He called back up. The others looked at each other, confused. Naruto and Sasuke didn't remember that happening before. Nobody knew what was going on. "Hurry and get down here! Whatever the second beam is pointing to is really close!" Everyone looked at each other and shrugged before leaping down to the forest floor. Naruto shivered.

"It's amazing how much darker it gets down here." He groaned. Hinata patted his back lightly and smiled.

"It's alright, my poor little Kyuubi." Naruto looked at her, alarmed, before seeing her teasing expression. He smiled as well, relaxing. They looked around for Itachi, all of them staying close. He came back to where they were, showing them where the second beam was pointing.

"Whatever it is, it's hiding and moving." He told them. Deidara suddenly started laughing his head off and everyone turned to him. He picked a caterpillar off of Itachi's shirt and showed it to him.

"You have a new friend, yeah, Itachi." The bomber laughed. Everyone else started laughing, even Itachi.

"Deidara," he said after a while, "stop being retarded and let's find what the second beam is pointing to." They all broke up into individual searches. Itachi was parting the branches of the waist-high growing bushes so he could look. "Eneko? Niji? If you're here, I've come to find you! It's just your Konoha search party, I promise. Where are you, girls?" He called. A sudden rustling in the bushes caused everyone to pull out weapons. A dark-haired blur attached itself to Itachi's leg and let out a few sobs. Itachi immediately kneeled down and hugged the little girl.

"Niji…oh, my girl…" He whispered, relieved. Everyone came up, surprised that they had found Niji and not Eneko. He started petting the little girl's hair, holding her close and rocking her gently. He looked up at the rest of the group. "It'll only take a few minutes for me to get her calmed down…" He promised before murmuring comforts into his young daughter's ear. Naruto spotted one of Eneko's fans clutched in one of Niji's small hands. He pointed it out to Sasuke, who understood. Eneko had helped Niji to escape and made sure that the others would be able to find her. After a few moments, Niji began to calm down.

"Can you tell us what happened, Niji-chan?" Itachi asked his little girl gently. She sniffled and nodded slightly.

"Mommy didn't feel good…. so we went outside so she could get some air…. Then a man that was all blue came up to mommy and started talkin' to her. He said something like 'you shouldn't have done it, girl.' And mommy stepped in front of me. She wasn't very happy with that blue man, Daddy. But then a guy with orange hair and a lot of little metal thingies on his face had a sharp pointy thing on Mommy's neck and she stood really still, glaring at the orange-haired guy. That's when Aunt Sakura came outside. Mommy looked at her and yelled 'protect Niji, it's the Akatsuki' and she pushed the orange haired man away and chased after him. Aunt Sakura kept the blue guy away from me and I didn't know what to do.

"Aunt Sakura stood in front of me and made sure that blue guy couldn't get me but she got really cut up. The blue guy kicked her and she went away. Then the blue guy picked me up and whispered 'sorry kid' into my ear. The blue guy was really nice Daddy, except that he hurt Aunt Sakura. I looked around for Mommy and she was lying on the ground and she had blood on her mouth. The orange guy didn't look happy, Daddy, and he was standing over mommy. He kicked Mommy in the tummy really hard and she bit his leg really hard. That made the orange guy really mad. He told the blue man 'we're taking her back to base. Take the kid for ransom or something like that.' And then he tied up Mommy's hands so she couldn't move and he picked her up. Mommy didn't want to be picked up, Daddy and she wouldn't sit still. The orange guy kept hitting her enough so that she fell asleep. Then we kept running.

"We got a little bit that way," she pointed in the same direction the second light was pointing, "before we had to stop so that the orange guy could put band aids on all the cuts Mommy gave him. The orange guy threw mommy against a tree, which made more blood come out of her mouth. The nice blue man put me beside her and I started trying to wake Mommy up. She was hurt really bad Daddy and she wasn't waking up for a really long time. It was taking the two other guys a long time to put the band-aids on their cuts and scrapes. I wanted to go home, and I told them that I wanted to go home. The orange guy threw something at me so I didn't talk to him again. Then the two other guys started talking a lot about some plans or something. I don't really know what was going on, Daddy. Then Mommy woke up and she pulled the thing the orange-haired guy threw at me out of the tree and told me to cut the ropes. I did it, Daddy, but only because Mommy told me to. I know I'm not supposed to play with the sharp things.

"Then Mommy reached behind her and pulled one of her fans out of it's place. She handed it to me, Daddy, and it was heavy! She told me 'Run away, Niji. You need to run away. These men aren't nice people. Daddy will be able to find you if you take this and hold on to it real tight. Don't let it go, Niji.' She kissed me on the forehead like she does when I'm scared. She told me 'be brave, my little rainbow. Now, go.' She pushed me into the bushes and I started running. I wasn't very far away when I heard Mommy scream…But I did what Mommy told me to and I kept running. I still have the fan, Daddy, see?" She asked, showing him the fan with the dragon carving on it. The Konoha symbol touched the eye of the dragon and the second light disappeared. Itachi hugged Niji tightly.

"You did so good, Niji. You were so brave and when we get Mommy home I'm sure she'll be just as proud of you as I am." He praised his only child softly. She smiled.

"I did good, Daddy?" She asked, her green eyes alight with excitement. Itachi smiled and nodded.

"You did great, little rainbow." He ruffled her hair and she giggled happily. Then, Itachi looked up at the rest of the group pleadingly. "Is there any way one of you could take Niji home?" Sakura stepped forward.

"My chakra's shot and I'm wounded. I won't be any good in a fight. I'll take her home. Come on, Niji. Let's go home and we'll wait for your Mommy and Daddy to get home." She walked toward the girl. Niji turned and kissed her father on the cheek.

"Bring Mommy home, okay, Daddy? She's going to need a lot of band-aids!" The little girl ran over to her Aunt Sakura and the two leapt off, heading back towards Konoha. Itachi stood up and his gaze swept up new determination in the rescue group standing beside him.

"You heard my daughter. We've got to bring Eneko home. Let's move." He said as they leapt back up to the branches and started following the light beam once again.


	5. Chapter 5

Promises Not Yet Kept Chapter Five 

The Akatsuki base is an underground labyrinth of dark hallways and rooms that seem to lead to nowhere. Only the members know their way around and there are even times that even they get lost. Unfortunately, the Akatsuki base is also known for the cells in which it throws its prisoners. In these few rooms, numerous tortures have been inflicted upon their inhabitants. In these few rooms, there have only been a few survivors. In one of these few rooms is where Uchiha Eneko lays, unconscious after that day's beating. A shadowy silhouette of a man leaves the cell hurriedly and goes into a different room where there is an ominous mist floating around a single silhouette.

"She resisted us again." The man told the single silhouette in a quiet, respectful tone. The shadowed face turned to the newcomer and growled in frustration.

"Did you use all of the tortures?" The man asked. The other man nodded softly, still in a respectful bow.

"Yes, Leader, we've used all of them. The only thing she does the whole time is clutch that stupid ring of hers to her chest." The first man said to the apparent leader. The leader groaned and rubbed his temples slightly.

"This woman is becoming more of a nuisance than I had imagined." A sudden sadistic smile crossed his features. "I've got it. Use Kisame. Kisame _was_ her husband's partner when he was in my organization. Call Kisame in here." He ordered. The other man nodded and left the room. A few moments later, a shark-like man entered the room and bowed respectfully.

"You called for me, leader-sama?" He asked as politely as he could. "How can I help?" He asked, even though he already knew what the man was going to ask. True, Kisame had been Itachi's partner while the both of them were in the Akatsuki. This meant they had made a somewhat friendship. Kisame knew that Itachi still mourned the loss of his Clan and he had known that when Itachi had believed Eneko had been dead, Itachi woke with nightmares about her calling to him from the world beyond. He didn't want to hurt Eneko anymore than he already had, but he knew that he had to obey orders. Pein, the leader, looked over at the blue shark-like man and smiled at him manipulatively.

"Yes, Kisame, I called you here. You are to threaten Itachi's wench with that little girl she risked her life to save. If she would risk her life for a little girl once, there's a chance she might do it again. Get her to agree to do anything we ask of her, Kisame. I have faith in you. Now leave." Kisame left the room and started walking down the hallway, grabbing a torch along the way so he could see. He finally made his way through the labyrinth that was home base and got to a door. He used the keys he had been given and unlocked the heavy door, pushing it open. A shadowed female figure pulled herself against the wall.

"Don't you people ever give up?" A weak, pain-ridden voice asked. Kisame flinched as the firelight showed who had been talking. Eneko's long brown hair was matted with all the dried blood from her wounds. Her bare arms and legs were covered in criss-crossed cuts and burns. Her sleeveless kimono-like top was torn and frayed, the Uchiha symbol slashed through multiple times. Kisame could see where she had been stabbed countless times. She was sitting in a pool of her own blood but she still had enough energy to glare. Kisame sighed heavily and walked forward.

"Eneko, it's Kisame." The woman relaxed slightly, letting the pained expression creep back into her eyes. "Why don't you just give up already? Wouldn't it just be easier that way?" Eneko smiled grimly at the shark-like man.

"Yes, Kisame, it would be easier, but if I gave up, I'd be letting all of my friends and family down. And if I gave up…I'd never be able to face my daughter again." Kisame sat down near her and she flinched away from the firelight. He moved it away from her instantly.

"What's wrong, Eneko?" He asked. She covered her face with the hand that wasn't broken. Now that he was closer, he could see that she had a number of broken bones. She was going to be spending a lot of time recovering in the hospital.

"I've been in the darkness so long that the light hurts. The light is blinding me." She whispered quietly. He moved the light further away and she relaxed again. Kisame looked at the strong girl beside him and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Eneko, about all of this. I really am." She smiled at him and shook her head.

"It's not your fault your boss doesn't like my husband or the man I consider a brother. Or that Hidan likes to inflict pain." Kisame shook his head this time and she looked at him, confused.

"Not about that, even though I am sorry about all of that. I'm supposed to tell you that if you don't agree to do whatever Pein tells you to, then we'll kill that little girl." Eneko's eyes snapped wide open in alarm and she put her hand to her mouth in horror. Tears came to her eyes and she looked at him, her eyes pleading at him. Kisame could now clearly see all of the cuts and he could tell what had been used to inflict them. He winced when he saw a glass inflicted cut on her arm and one on her neck, though that one was shallow.

"Please, Kisame, don't let him hurt her. Please don't let him hurt her. Not her…not her…" She whispered, tears falling down her face. Just the thought of what the Akatsuki could do to Niji sent her over the edge in worry. "Not her, Kisame." She sobbed. "Not her." Kisame looked at her trembling form, surprised at the reaction that had caused.

"Why do you care so much about one little girl? What's so special about that one little girl that would get you this worked up? That would cause you to risk your life coming here to let her escape?" Eneko looked away as she cried. Kisame's eyes searched her for some sort of answer and he put a hand on her shoulder. "You can tell me, Eneko. I won't tell Pein why, I just want to know." She let out a small sob.

"Because Kisame…I won't let you hurt her because her name is Niji…and she's my only child…my daughter." She whispered softly. The wind-user turned back to the shark-like man with pleading eyes, sobbing. "Kisame, don't let Pein hurt my daughter! Tell him I agree, just don't let him hurt Niji…If I do die, she's all Itachi will have…I don't want him to loose her too…" She whispered. "Tell Pein I'll do anything…I will do anything as long as he doesn't hurt my baby…" Kisame's eyes glazed over with the amount of pain she was giving off. He pulled Eneko into an awkward hug, causing her to cry into his chest. He patted her back to get her to stop crying. She calmed down slowly when he started murmuring comforts into her ear and trying to reason with her. She blushed softly, as did he.

"Don't cry, Eneko. Itachi wouldn't want you to cry…" He whispered into her ear. The truth really was, Kisame's heart ached when tears came out of those green eyes of hers. He knew he had a small crush on the girl and didn't want to see her cry any more than he knew Itachi would. She kept on crying, afraid for her daughter and, though she wouldn't admit it, her own life. She was in pain and just wanted to hold her daughter again. She just wanted to go home, but for now, she let Kisame near her. He pulled something out of his pocket and pressed it into her palm. She looked down. It was a gray and red ring attached to a necklace.

"W-what's this…Kisame?" She wiped the tears off her face to look at it better. He put it around her neck with a toothy grin.

"It was Itachi's ring when he was in the organization. I thought you might like to have something of Itachi's to remember him while you're stuck in this hole." She smiled at him and kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush profusely.

"Thank you, Kisame…" She whispered. He stood and left the room with a small sigh. The blue-skinned, shark-like man walked down the hallways with a depressed demeanor. He repeated the way he was supposed to go in his head. Left, right, straight, right, straight, straight, left, right, right, left, straight. Then there was Pein's door. He knocked quietly on the door before entering. He gave the respectful bow that they had been told to give every time they saw their Leader. Kisame growled inwardly. Pein was so full of himself.

"I'm back, Leader-sama." Kisame told the orange-haired gray ringed eyed man. Suddenly he began to hesitate. What was Pein planning on doing to Eneko? He could feel that Eneko was scared being down there by herself and that she just wanted to go home. Who wouldn't want to go home in her situation? He didn't want Pein to hurt her any more than he already had and he was prepared to give her enough chakra so that she could get herself out. But that was only if Pein allowed him to go without a partner again. He wouldn't get anyone else in trouble. The pierced man finally acknowledged the blue-skinned man and turned toward him.

"What happened down there, Kisame? What took you so long? Did she resist again?" He asked in a deep, sadistic voice. Kisame shook his head.

"She didn't resist me, Leader-sama. She said she refused to let anything happen to the girl and told me that she agreed to do anything you want her to do."

"Perfect." Pein chuckled darkly, a chuckle that Kisame had to keep the shivers from showing. He hesitated and Pein looked at him with a narrowed gaze. "Is there something else, Kisame?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you could tell me what you were planning to do with her. Just out of curiosity of course." He held up his nonchalant tone of voice though inside he was quivering with the thought of all the things Pein could do to Eneko. Pein gave him a long, hard look before grinning.

"I will tell you, Kisame, because you have been so loyal to this organization. When her little rescue party shows up, I will take her to the surface with us. And thanks to a small amount of hypnotism, _she_ will be the one that gets rid of any opposing forces we may have. It's just a shame she lost one of her precious fans on the way here…" Kisame's eyes widened but he forced himself to nod in agreement.

"Thank you for trusting me with the information, Pein-sama." He bowed in respect before turning to leave the room. As his hand touched the handle of the door, Kisame felt warm breath on the back of his neck.

"Kisame? I'd better not here of you going down to that girl's cell, now. Not after I gave you her fate." Kisame shook his head.

"I would never give valuable information away to the prisoner, Leader-sama." He promised. Pein chuckled darkly.

"Good, because if you did, next time I'll get the woman to kill you." Suddenly the breath was off his neck and he left the room. He looked down the hallway to where Eneko's cell was located.

"Please, Eneko, please be strong enough to live through your future…you have a daughter that wants you to come home…" He whispered before turning the opposite direction to await Itachi and Deidara's unwelcome return.


	6. Chapter 6

**Promises Not Yet Kept**

**Chapter Six**

"We're getting closer! The light's getting thicker and stronger! We're almost there…hang on, Eneko! We're coming to rescue you!" Itachi called softly to his beloved that was in the clutches of his worst enemy. "Rescue Team, let's keep going! And this time, don't disturb any sleeping bears!" They had done just that a few miles back and Naruto and Hinata both sported long scratches and Sasuke bore a few burns from where he didn't get away from Itachi's fire-type jutsu in enough time. Deidara blinked his visible eye and looked around at their surroundings as they tore through the trees. 

"I don't think they've changed bases since you left, Itachi. They're getting lazy, yeah." The blonde told the dark-haired man with a mischievous grin. Itachi smiled and laughed softly, sharing a few unspoken memories of their past together. Sasuke glared at them from his position in the back of the group. He had been in a sore mood ever since that bear wanted to attack him and only him and he hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. For some reason, he kept misjudging distances between himself and his opponent. He shook his head, making a mental note to do some serious training when they got back to Konoha. He needed to retrain himself after being with Orochimaru and Kabuto for all of these years. 

"Can we hurry up, Itachi? I'd like to be able to get home today." Sasuke grumbled. He had this awful foreboding feeling about this whole rescue mission and after practically living with foreboding, he figured he had a pretty good idea about this sort of thing. Itachi gave him a look.

"Calm down, Sasuke. Sakura will be waiting for you just like Niji is waiting for me to bring back Eneko. So shove that bad attitude somewhere and think positively." Itachi scolded his younger brother. Sasuke glared at him before nodding, keeping his comments to himself. As soon as they got to a slight part in the trees, Itachi skidded to a hasty halt. His eyes were wide and he was staring at a specific figure standing in the small clearing 

"Eneko…No…" He whispered, mortified. Standing below them was none other than the person they had been searching for, but something wasn't right…

-- -- 

The door of the small, dark cell was suddenly flung open and light flooded in, causing the woman sitting inside to cry out in pain and cover her eyes with her hands. Suddenly, her wrists were grasped roughly and she was dragged to her feet. Warm breath was suddenly felt on her ear and her spine stiffened in fear. 

"It is time for you to finally prove your worth to the Akatsuki, wench." A sinister, but familiar voice whispered in her ear. Her eyes snapped open and the strained green eyes met the threatening gray-ringed eyes. She opened her mouth to scream but Pein just smirked at her.

"There is no use in screaming. Who would hear you all the way down here? None of the Akatsuki members would come to your aid and your precious Itachi hasn't come for you yet. I am now your master." He smiled sadistically at her. She took a shaky step back in fear. Her gaze traveled over to Kisame, who looked like he wanted to do nothing other than push Pein away from her. She let out a quiet whimper and his gaze told her how sorry he was that this was happening to her. She stared back at Pein, who was glaring daggers at her. His gaze trapped hers and he leaned forward. She tried to back away again but found that her legs were frozen to the spot. She felt her chest constrict and suddenly, she felt like she couldn't breathe. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and Pein laughed maniacally. 

"You are mine, Uchiha Eneko." He whispered softly into her ear. His hands formed a hand seal new to Eneko's eyes and suddenly, she felt her mind go black. Her last thought echoed around the room. 

"I'm sorry…Itachi…" The brown of Eneko's hair turned a much darker color, though still brown and her green eyes dulled, as if all the light and energy behind them had gone away. They stayed a dull black and she bowed her head in Pein's presence. 

"I shall do what my leader asks of me." She said in an almost robotic voice. Pein smirked and Kisame's face fell. He looked away. Eneko had gone under too much and she couldn't combat the strong mental force of the Akatsuki leader. Pein put the heavy metal-plated fan in Eneko's palm and she looked down at it.

"It is time for you to make your appearance, my darling girl." The infamous leader cackled as Kisame was forced to lead the young woman up the stairs to face those who she once called 'family'. Now, in her head, everyone but Kisame and Pein was evil and must be destroyed. The door to the outside opened and light flooded in, but she didn't even flinch. She stood her position, waiting for the enemy to come straight to her. 

-- -- 

"Itachi, why'd we stop?" Naruto called and leapt forward. He saw Eneko standing below and let out a cry of excitement. "Eneko-nee-chan, you're alive!" The younger blonde shinobi rushed forward before anyone could have a chance to stop him. The dull black eyes of the woman that no longer knew them as the people she considered family traveled to the boy and she snapped open her fan. Naruto stopped in his tracks, alarmed. 

"Eneko? What's going on? It's me, Uzumaki Naruto!" He yelled at her, trying to get through to her. His eyes met her black ones and his eyes widen as she surged forward, her fans pointed to kill. Naruto leapt backwards and stood by Hinata, upset that she couldn't remember him.

"It's some sort of mind control." He told everyone else. "Her eyes aren't green. They're a dull black color. She couldn't remember me…" A sinister chuckle came from the foliage around them and Pein stepped out beside Eneko along with Kisame. The orange-haired Akatsuki leader traced Eneko's jaw line with his finger and the dull-eyed woman stayed right where she was, not moving around at all and seeming to press _into_ his touch. 

"Hello, Uchiha. Your wife is such a cute little thing. It makes me want to rip her apart with my bare hands so I can watch you suffer to loose such a prize." The orange-haired, gray-eyed man grinned at Itachi as he stiffened. Itachi stepped forward, glaring, but Deidara wrapped an arm around him, holding him back. 

"It's not Eneko anymore, Itachi. She's been brainwashed! Don't get your feelings hurt because of what she does now, Itachi. She loves you and only you, her memories are being blocked of you. We've got to find some way to get through to her. Calm down, you're not doing her or yourself any good." Deidara tried to reason with the upset Uchiha, but it all fell on deaf ears. Itachi was glaring straight at Pein, an undying hatred evident and lacing his dark eyes. 

"Give her back." Itachi growled out, his eyes being shadowed. Everyone on the rescue team took a step back at the dangerous aura that Itachi was giving off. "Give my wife back!" He yelled at the Akatsuki leader. The three younger shinobi all shared a look with each other before surging forward, aiming for Pein or Kisame so that they could get Eneko away from them. Eneko glanced at them before smirking and twirling her fan around. A sudden vortex of wind kicked up multitudes of tiny sharp rocks and sent them all around the rescue team. Small cuts started appearing all over their bodies until finally, they were thrown back. Pein smiled sadistically at Itachi before moving Eneko's hair over her shoulder with a small brush of his hand. 

"Give her back you say, Itachi? What if she doesn't want to go back with you? Who says this is brainwash? Maybe she just succumbed to my power over yours. Why don't we ask her, ne, Itachi?" He asked. He leaned down to Eneko and grinned. "Eneko-chan, do you want to go back to Konoha with Itachi and the others or do you want to stay here with me?" His breath sounded in her ear.

"I must stay and obey my master." She answered robotically. Pein smirked at the hurt look Itachi threw her. Naruto rushed forward, a spinning sphere of chakra visible in his hand.

"Rasengan!" He yelled as he rushed forward. Hinata ran after him and held him back, causing the sphere to lessen in power.

"You can't hurt her, Naruto! That's Eneko! We can't hurt Eneko!" She tried to reason with her loved one, but he broke free of her grasp and charged at Eneko, rasengan readied to strike. The woman moved her fan and the spinning sphere dissipated. Naruto's eyes widened before he was thrown a hundred or so feet backwards with a flick of Eneko's wrist. Pein smirked at Itachi.

"See, Itachi? She doesn't want to go with you. She just told you she's staying with me. Did you, my little Eneko-chan?" He asked as he kissed her on the cheek. She didn't move at all as everyone else, including Kisame, tensed in the clearing. All Itachi saw was read as he rushed forward, kunai raised. He headed straight for Pein but Eneko stepped in front of her supposed 'master'. She sent a spiraling whirlwind attack at him and he ducked under it, allowing him to escape the strong wind. A short battle between her long-ranged wind attacks and Itachi's speed proved that the latter was just a little better. He ducked under the final attack and sent a punch to the bottom of Pein's jaw before stabbing him in the stomach with a kunai. Pein was sent spiraling upwards and Eneko leapt onto Itachi, trying to throw him off. Itachi just looked into her eyes and smiled softly

"You're really not Eneko, are you?" He murmured softly. "Because Eneko and Niji share the same eyes." He wrapped his strong arms around her and she tensed up. Itachi began to pet her hair, something that he knew would work. He whispered comforts into her ear and she began to tremble. Her eyes flickered back to green and she looked at him as tears fell out of her eyes. 

"I'm so sorry, Itachi…I'm so sorry…I wasn't strong enough…Please, please forgive me. I didn't mean to try and hurt you…" She sobbed softly. His smile widened and he hugged her even tighter. 

"I promised Niji I'd bring you home…so sleep now, Ene-koi. It will be my turn to protect you this time." She smiled slightly and nodded, falling into a deep, pain-induced sleep almost immediately. Itachi passed the sleeping girl over to Deidara who held her protectively, like an older brother would his little sister. Kisame looked over at Itachi.

"I never meant for this to happen, Itachi. I didn't want him to use her, but I had to follow orders." The shark-like man murmured softly. Itachi smiled at him and sighed softly.

"I know you didn't mean for this to happen, Kisame. My daughter, the little girl you tried to kidnap, told me that you tried not to hurt her the whole time. She called you the 'nice blue man' and I saw your face when Pein touched Eneko. I understand. But I just hope that you can break away from Akatsuki when you're ready. Eneko, Deidara, and I will all be waiting for you in Konoha." Kisame smiled and looked over at the sleeping girl.

"Protect her, Itachi. She's special." He murmured before leaving to find his leader. Itachi looked back at his rescue team.

"Let's get home. If we hurry, we can get there by dinner time." Sasuke scoffed and pointedly looked over at Hinata and Naruto.

"He only says that because it's nearly two o'clock in the morning." Everyone laughed, lessening the tension around them and they leapt off through the trees again, wanting to get home as fast as they could so they could keep the promises they had made.


	7. Chapter 7

**Promises Not Yet Kept**

**Chapter Seven**

The sun touched the brown-haired girl's eyelids and she stirred softly in her bed. A jolt of pain entered her leg as she moved her left ankle and she stopped moving around to open her eyes. She immediately shut them, seeing as how they were sore and obviously extremely sensitive to light. She smiled as she opened them and they weren't as sore as they had once been. She looked around the white-washed hospital room and sighed, propping herself up so she could better test herself. 

She moved her right arm and moved it back up so that she could move the other arm. The left arm hurt more than the right arm, but she wasn't surprised. That was where she had taken the most brutal beatings while she was in her Akatsuki cell. There were a few spots that she could see from the bandages covering her arms that were bleeding through and would need extra attention. Her left arm felt as if it were either fractured or broken in a few places and her right arm just felt like something was wrong with the muscles; she had a feeling that she had torn them. Her left ankle was obviously broken, she didn't even have to look at that and it felt like she had broken a few ribs. Almost as soon as she was done with her self-inspection, Tsunade opened the door. 

"Good morning Tsunade! How long am I in for this time?" She asked the golden-haired hokage. Tsunade stopped and blinked, not expecting her to be up for at least a few more hours. She sighed. Then again, this _was_ Eneko.

"Around a month unless you surprise us again, Eneko-chan." Eneko giggled quietly as Tsunade ruffled her hair. Tsunade then pointed to a vase where two white tiger lilies sat majestically. "Itachi took Niji home to go to bed after their visit last night. She talks to you while you're sleeping, Eneko. It's really cute to watch it sometimes." She commented as she checked her over. Eneko grinned at her. 

"I just finished my self-examination, Tsunade. From my point of view I have a broken left ankle, an either broken or fractured left arm, a muscle problem in my right arm, a couple of broken ribs, and then there's whatever's wrong with my eyes. So, what does your examination of me tell you?" She grinned. Every time that Eneko came to the hospital, she'd always try and examine herself and see how close she got. Tsunade looked at her chart and smiled.

"That's everything, Eneko. And you're going to have a couple lapses of temporary blindness because of being in the dark for too long." Eneko crossed her better arm over her chest and grinned. "Eneko, do me a favor and stop trying to kill yourself." Suddenly, Eneko's face became eerily serious. 

"I will only die when I have successfully protected those that are precious to me." She told the hokage quietly. Tsunade blinked at her softly before Eneko smiled again. Tsunade smiled back and ruffled Eneko's hair again.

"I think you're going to be the death of me someday, Eneko-chan. Now, lay back down before Niji comes in and thinks you're well enough to be jumped on." Eneko laughed and Tsunade helped her to lay back down without injuring herself any further. Shizune opened the door and walked forward and Tonton went over to inspect Eneko, who scratched behind her ears gently.

"Tsunade-sama? Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Niji are in the waiting room and wish to see Eneko-san. Do I let them in?" The dark-haired woman asked quietly. Eneko grinned at Tsunade and looked back over at Shizune.

"Send in my family Shizune! I'm ready for anything my two-year-old can throw at me!" She punched the air, immediately bringing her hand back down. "Ow…" Tsunade rolled her eyes at the injured girl and smiled at Shizune.

"Send them both in and please _remind_ Niji that her mother is hurt and not to jump on her." Shizune nodded and backed out of the room, taking Tonton with her. Eneko grinned at Tsunade.

"Tonton's a nice little pig. You know what, I'm thinking about getting Niji a ninken when she gets a little older? Maybe a dog or a cat, perhaps. What do you think?" Eneko asked Tsunade as the hokage put her fractured arm into a sling. Tsunade shook her head and sighed.

"Eneko, you're biting off more than you can chew, I'm going to tell you that much. Most people wait until they're a little older to have children, even if the _are_ ex-ANBU members and jounin. Especially one with a husband that has a legion of dangerous enemies after them." Tsunade scolded before the door opened and Itachi and Niji were led in. Niji was hiding behind her father's leg, trying to be as quiet as she could, obviously thinking Eneko was still asleep. When green eyes met the same green eyes, Niji let out a squeal of excitement.

"Mommy! You're awake!" She cried and climbed up on the bed, snuggling up beside her mother on her good side. Eneko laughed and wrapped the torn-muscled arm around her young daughter. Tsunade rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Yes, Niji-chan, I _am_ awake. You need to be quieter in a hospital though, alright? I'm glad you're all right though; I was afraid your father wouldn't think to use the locater charm." Niji smiled and pulled something out of her pocket. She put the intricately designed metal-plated fan on Eneko's chest gently.

"I kept it safe, Mommy. I wouldn't let anybody touch it, not even Daddy! I kept a good hold on it, just like you told me to!" The two-year old girl said, obviously proud of herself. Eneko laughed and hugged her daughter tightly.

"I'm so proud of you, my little one! You were so brave! You want to know something? I'll bet you become one of the best kunoichi in all of Konoha!" She called. Niji looked ecstatic and laughed. Eneko looked over at Itachi through all of this and saw him standing against the wall with his arms crossed. She smiled at him and he gave her a small smile back. She looked at his eyes to see what he was feeling and saw concern, relief, and something Eneko was all too familiar with; fear. She stopped and stared at him and he looked away. Tsunade, however, saw this traded look and took Itachi by the arm, smiling at the two Uchiha girls. 

"I'm going to steal him for a little while, okay, girls?" She said with a big fake smile. Eneko hesitated, seeing the fakeness, but Niji, who couldn't tell the difference, wagged a cute little finger at her.

"It's not nice to steal things…or people, Tsunade-baa-chan." She scolded cutely. Tsunade laughed and nodded at her.

"Then I'll borrow him and bring him back in a few minutes. Deal, Niji?" The little girl nodded and Tsunade smiled again. "Why don't you tell your mommy what you and your Aunt Sakura did while you were waiting for your mommy and daddy to come home?" She suggested as she shoved Itachi out the door and into the hallway. She closed the door behind her and slammed Itachi's shoulder against the wall. They stood there, glaring at each other until Itachi finally had to break his gaze away.

"What is the meaning of all of this Tsunade? If you wanted to talk to me, it's more polite to ask than to shove people against walls and crush their shoulders." He growled. Tsunade glared daggers at him, her eyes flashing dangerously. Itachi flinched, knowing she meant to kill, or at least seriously injure, if she didn't get what she wanted. All the doctors and nurses around them stayed away from the glaring hokage and her Uchiha captive, knowing not to interfere with Tsunade's business. 

"Why are you trying to stay away form your own wife, Itachi? I know she's in pain and she's not exactly herself at the moment, but flat-out ignoring her is only going to bring the _both_ of you pain! So tell me why you find it all right to hurt my friend and patient before I slam your face into the floor." She threatened. Itachi gulped nervously, knowing from experience that she meant every word. He looked down and sighed.

"I'm afraid of her…" He admitted, mumbling so badly that his words were all slurred together and barely understandable. She pressed his shoulder further into the wall and he winced.

"I can't hear you, Uchiha." She spat. Itachi glared at her and looked away, ashamed of himself. He didn't ask for this, it just kind of came up on him. He clenched his fist and looked at her straight into the eye.

"I'm afraid of my own wife, all right?" He nearly yelled. A few people around them stared, but after a look from Tsunade, they all scurried away to get back to their respective duties. She turned around and stared at the embarrassed man, pure shock in her gaze.

"Why?" She finally asked the dark-haired man. He looked away again and sighed heavily.

"Because of how she acted back at the Akatsuki base. I know that she was under brain control and all, but if you could have seen her…the way she acted…you'd be afraid of her too. And it's not that I'm _afraid_ of her, per say, I'm afraid of what she could _do_ while not being able to tell who's her true friend and who's her real enemy. What if, the next time she's under brain wash, Niji is around? What will happen then? Will her will to protect those close to her be able to break out of the control?" Tsunade put her hands on her hips and glowered at him.

"That's not all, Itachi, and I know it. Tell me what else." She ordered. Itachi's spine stiffened and he stared at her, wondering how it was so that women were able to read a man like a book. He looked away again, remembering the second reason.

"She let Pein touch her, come near her. She let him _kiss_ her, for crying out loud, Tsunade! What if she decides she actually _does_ like him more than she likes me and goes off with _him_? I'm afraid that she's going to leave me, and I don't think I can handle being away from her again…" His voice lowered to a whisper the longer he went on. Tsunade stared at him, shocked beyond words. But, being Tsunade, she soon found her voice again.

"Just because she was under mental stress and couldn't block out the mind control doesn't mean that you should be afraid of her, Itachi. She was fighting to come back to you, which is the only reason she didn't just flat-out kill you. And believe you me, Eneko is powerful enough to take out the whole of the ANBU by herself. You wouldn't be a problem for her to get rid of. Besides, it's because of you and Deidara that she's in that condition in there in the first place. You should be in there, helping to nurse her back to health, not out here like a sorry coward because she had a sadist as a captor. He was just trying to get to your head, Itachi. Are you going to let Pein win, or are you going to beat him to a pulp and make him leave your family alone? Because I'm starting to think that you're just going to let him win." Itachi glared at her.

"Never. I will never allow Pein to take my family away from me!" He vowed. She slapped him on the back and smiled.

"Good. That's what I wanted to hear. Now, go in there and help your wife and that's an order." Itachi smiled and nodded and together, they went back in for Itachi to redeem himself. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Promises Not Yet Kept**

**Chapter Eight**

"Eneko! You're lucky that you're on good terms with me or I would drag your butt right back to the hospital where I could keep an eye on you." Tsunade warned the green-eyed kunoichi as she performed one of her many check-ups. Eneko had begged to go home and Tsunade had finally relented, but that didn't mean that Tsunade didn't come over two to three times a day to check on her favorite patient. Sakura came over when Tsunade couldn't and always talked about how Sasuke was doing in the police force since they never saw him much anymore.

"I'm lucky just to _have_ you, Tsunade-chan! I think I'd be long dead if you hadn't have been here to save me every time I got hurt." Niji whimpered when her mother talked about being dead and Eneko patted her on the head, which was difficult to do when sitting in a chair. "Figuratively speaking, of course, Niji-chan." Niji smiled and hugged her mother around the waist. Thankfully, for Eneko, broken ribs heal fast and her daughter was _very_ affectionate at times. 

"My mommy is strong, isn't she Tsunade-baa-chan?" She smiled up at the hokage, her green eyes sparkling. The golden-haired hokage looked down at her and grinned, nodding her head before glaring at Eneko, who laughed nervously.

"Yes, your mommy is very strong, Niji-chan. She just needs to stay out of trouble so that she doesn't get hurt again." She pointed told the brown-haired kunoichi and poked her in the forehead. Eneko and Niji both laughed and Itachi, who was leaning against the wall by the door, smiled softly to himself. Eneko looked over at Itachi and beckoned him over to their small little party.

"Itachi-kun! Come and join us and stop being a party crasher!" Itachi gave her a look and she returned it. "I'll sic Niji on you if you don't come over." Itachi sighed, his shoulders drooping and walked over. Eneko motioned him down, as if wanting to whisper something to him and he bent over. She latched onto his neck, pulling him down into a hug. All three of the Uchihas laughed and Tsunade just rolled her eyes and sighed. You couldn't find a happier family in the whole of Konoha. 

**Enjoy the time you still have with your family, Eneko…** A sinister voice chuckled in her head. Eneko's skin went paper white as she recognized the voice of the leader of the Akatsuki. Itachi, noticing Eneko's sudden skin tone change, started trying to ask her what was wrong. Eneko saw his mouth moving, but she couldn't hear any of his words. Tsunade started walking over to see what was wrong. Eneko couldn't hear anything over the loud, sinister and sadistic laugh echoing through her head. She shakily covered her ears and clenched her eyes shut, trying to block out Pein's voice, but it just ended up making it louder. 

**You cannot escape me, Uchiha Eneko…** Eneko let out a shrill scream and opened her eyes in a panic. Itachi and Tsunade both stopped, wide-eyed when they saw Eneko's eyes flickering back and forth from her original green, to the hypnotic dull black. She wildly looked around, trying to find some way of getting this voice out of her head.

"H-Help me!" She screamed. Itachi wrapped his arms around her and pulled her out of the chair. She cried softly into his strong chest as the voice kept getting louder and louder. His breath on her ear told her that he was trying to comfort her, but she still couldn't hear anything of the outside world. Through her tears, she saw Tsunade picking up a crying Niji. She sobbed even harder, ashamed of herself for scaring her daughter. 

**Remember, Eneko….You are not your own and you are not Itachi's any longer…You…are…mine… **The voice disappeared all together and the sounds from the outside world rushed back to her all at once. 

"Mommy! Mommy stop screaming!" Niji was yelling from Tsunade's arms. Tsunade was trying to get _her_ to stop screaming while at the same time giving Itachi orders for what to do with Eneko. Itachi was just whispering into her ear, holding her close. 

"Eneko…I'm here…please, Eneko…please fight him for me…Don't let me loose you, Eneko…I love you…please fight it…fight it for Niji and me…" She looked up into his eyes and saw that there was concern, love, and the fear she had originally seen in the hospital lacing his dark eyes. She let out a small sob and wrapped her arms around him.

"I don't _want_ to leave you, Itachi…I love you…don't let him take me away again!" She begged. The fear in Itachi's eyes was replaced by determination and he looked back down at her, smiling as he saw her eyes were staying green.

"I will _never_ allow you to go back to him, Eneko. I promise you that." She smiled and unwrapped her arms from around his strong body. He let her go and smiled back at her. Niji leapt out of Tsunade's arms and tackled Eneko to the ground, shaking her. Eneko yelped in surprise, seeing her two-year-old behave like this.

"Mommy! Mommy don't scream again! You're scary when you scream, Mommy!" The two-year-old yelled. Eneko coughed, finally regaining her ability to breathe when Itachi came to her rescue and pulled Niji off of her. Eneko shook her head, her eyes wide. It wasn't just a good thing, but a _very_ good thing that her ribs healed fast.

"Niji!" She heard Itachi call his daughter in a scolding, sharp voice. "What have we told you about jumping on your mother when she's hurt?" Niji pouted at the scolding and looked away from both her parents, throwing a small tantrum as she kicked and struggled in Itachi's grasp. Eneko painfully pushed herself to her feet. Tsunade handed her the crutch that Eneko had been forced to use while her ankle had been healing. She accepted it gratefully and looked over at her family.

"I'm sorry for screaming, Niji-chan. If you want, you can go and visit your grandparents now and accept your punishment later, but you _will_ be punished for jumping on me and shaking me. It's not a nice thing to do. Now, do you want to go and see your grandma and grandpa? I heard it was grandpa's day off." She said the last sentence in a sing-song voice. Niji immediately stopped struggling and her eyes lit up, excited. 

"I want to go! I'll do time-out if I can go see grandpa! He's nice! Can I go, Daddy, please?" The little girl begged. Itachi set her on the floor and paused, as if he were considering it. Finally, he smiled down at her.

"As long as you don't talk to strangers along the way and don't whine about your punishment later." Niji saluted and ran out the door, laughing to herself even though she knew that she would be in trouble later. Eneko smiled at her daughter and remembered the time when she was born like any mother would. She sat back down on the comfortable couch and rolled her shoulder around in its socket, grunting when she heard the satisfying 'pop'. She stopped when she saw two different faces glaring down at her and shrunk down from her spot originally. 

"Did I do something wrong?" She laughed nervously. Both Itachi and Tsunade crossed their arms over their chests and glared even more furiously at her. She whimpered quietly, not exactly sure what she did wrong. Sure, it seemed as if she just had a mental breakdown and scared the pants off of those that cared about her, but that wasn't _her_ fault. Tsunade, as always, was the first one to break the uncomfortable silence that had entered the room.

"What was all that about, Eneko! You nearly scared us all half to death! Niji was screaming and Niji never screams!" She scolded. Eneko sat up straight and looked down. It still stung her that she had scared her poor daughter. Itachi walked straight over to her and grasped her chin, lifting it up so that she was looking into his eyes. Itachi's eyes softened when he saw the tears lacing hers.

"Tell me what's going on, Eneko. I can't help you get through it if you won't tell me." She smiled as best a fake smile as she could possibly muster and having an abusive father and a screwed up childhood, a lot of people had believed back then that her smiles were real.

"I'm fine, Itachi. Really, I think something just came over me. It was the pain or something, probably. That could be a reason for it, right, Tsunade?" She looked to the blonde woman for help. Itachi gave her a look frowned. Eneko laughed shakily, trying to make light of the situation. She didn't like being interrogated. 

"Careful, honey, or those frown lines will stick like they did with your father." She warned, trying to make a joke. His look intensified and she whimpered, looking away.

"Tell me what happened _now. _That's an order, Eneko and I wouldn't cross me right now if I were in your situation." He advised her warningly. She sighed softly and tore her gaze away from his. 

"You'll be afraid of me again…and you won't come near me anymore…" She murmured sadly. Itachi's head snapped over to Tsunade, thinking that she, being a woman, may have gossiped about his original fear. She shook her head, denying the silent charge fully. He turned back to Eneko, who was wiping tears out of her eyes.

"Where would you get an idea like that, Eneko-chan. I'm not afraid of you and I never was." He told her nervously. She spun around, glaring at him accusingly. 

"Yes you were and yes you are, Uchiha Itachi! I saw the fear in your eyes when you looked at me!" She screamed at him, unable to control herself. He took a step back shakily and she shook her head, letting tears fly off her face. "I saw the fear and I don't want _anyone_ to be afraid of me! And if that means that I have to keep secrets from you, then that's what I'll have to do!" She sobbed. Itachi grabbed her shoulders and gave her a rough shake, stopping any noises she had been making. She just sat there, staring into his eyes as tears fell slowly down her face. 

"I am _not_ afraid of you, Eneko! I'm afraid of what you can do and what you have done. I'm afraid of what you do when you're under his control, not the person you are, Eneko! I…I'm afraid you're going to leave me for Pein…" His shouts faded to whispers. Eneko pressed her lips onto his softly.

"I love you and only you. I will _never_ want Pein's love or attention more than I do yours, Itachi. The woman with my body but with black eyes…" She shook her head and smiled at him, touching his face gently. "That's not me. That's not who I am, that's not what I feel. So promise me, Itachi, one little thing. Promise me that if that woman shows up again, that you will fight her and protect whoever she is close to. If that be Niji, then protect her and if that be you, protect yourself while fighting. Do you promise me, Itachi?" Itachi nodded.

"I promise." He told her as strongly as he could; even knowing that wasn't what he wanted to do. Then it was his turn to press his lips onto hers and make her smile. She patted him on the chest and grinned up at him.

"All right then, we're at an agreement. One more thing, Itachi, by the way. Get me my pain medication. I hurt." Itachi laughed and went to do just that. Tsunade chuckled to herself and went to make sure he got the right ones and Eneko smiled, knowing things were going to be better within the household. 


	9. Chapter 9

Promises Not Yet Kept Chapter Nine

"Hey, hey, sensei-chan! Catch!" Anei called, tossing a small rubber ball at his brown-haired sensei. Eneko laughed before quickly judging the distance between herself and the fast-traveling sphere. She manipulated the wind around the ball so that it landed gently in her outstretched palm. Anei's face fell and she could tell that he was hoping to make her move so that she could exercise her injury. She smiled at how the young fire-user was so protective of her. Eneko tossed the ball gently to Niji who giggled, causing both her parents to smile. Itachi had been forced to join in on Niji's game of choice; catch. Anei, Fushi, and Retsu had all come over and offered to play as well and now all of them were in a circle close to where Eneko and Itachi's house stood. 

Niji quickly threw the ball at Fushi, her favorite of the three on her parents' team. It was normally Fushi, Sakura, Tsunade, or Akari that took care of Niji while Itachi and Niji were on missions, so the two girls had developed a very close bond. Fushi then threw the small ball at Retsu, who, in turn, tossed it to Itachi, who then threw it back to Eneko and on the game went. Eneko always threw it to Niji because that was about the extent of her fractured arm's reach. The torn muscles in her right arm had been giving her trouble lately, so she was mainly using her left side, which, unfortunately, was broken. Thankfully, she was almost healed and was going to be able to go on missions again soon. As soon as the ball came back to Eneko, she held it for a moment and grinned.

"Why don't we make this a little more interesting?" She asked mischievously. She used a few one-handed seals and created a few soft, earthen spheres. Everyone looked at her, confused and Itachi even tried activating his sharingan to see what she was doing. She was already done by then, so he deactivated the technique. Niji tugged on her mother's pants leg.

"Mommy? What's that?" she asked, confused. Eneko kneeled down next to her and whispered in her ear, putting the sphere into it as gently as possible. Niji grinned and nodded at her mother, who sat on the ground because her ankle was giving her a little bit of trouble. Niji aimed the sphere at Anei, who readied himself.

"Watch out, Anei-nii-kun!" She yelled, throwing the sphere at him as hard as her little arms possibly could. Anei reached out to grab it and throw it at someone else, but as soon as his fingertips brushed the surface, the sphere exploded, drenching the fire-user from head to toe. Itachi grinned while everyone else laughed. Eneko set the rest of the balls she had made in a pile by Niji's feet and she sent them flying. Everyone soon figured out they could reach out with chakra and the sphere wouldn't explode and so their game of catch turned into a training exercise, not only for team thirteen, but for Itachi as well. He was actually enjoying himself until Eneko got _another_ idea. 

Eneko had been formulating a plan so that her two-year-old would have the upper hand and created a few new earthen balls that looked almost exactly the same as the other ones she had made. This time, when she whispered in Niji's ear and the little girl threw it at Retsu, he reached out with chakra and the ball exploded in a bright light. Everyone else threw the water spheres at him while he was blinded; much to the enjoyment of Niji who was laughing so hard she was turning blue. Eneko joined her and the game was back on with Eneko sneaking in a couple of her light spheres. 

Everything was going along fine until Eneko spotted another sphere that she _knew_ was not of her making flying straight at Itachi. Her eyes widened, seeing the fuse sticking out of one end and she leapt to her feet, running over to Itachi.

"Watch out!" She called, pushing him and herself flat to the ground. The sphere exploded around them but thankfully, Fushi had picked up Niji to protect her and shielded her from all the debris flying around. Eneko felt solid, sharp objects enter her skin numerous times but kept her position until the onslaught was over. As soon as said onslaught was over, she leapt back up to her feet, fan at the ready to attack, while Itachi leapt up and pressed his back into hers. Fushi, Anei and Retsu all stood in battle positions and Niji was cowering behind Fushi's hair. 

"Are you alright, Eneko?" Itachi murmured to her softly from his position at her back. She nodded, her eyes never stopping their scanning and glared around at the surroundings. Unfortunately, Eneko and Itachi lived by a patch of woodland, making it easy for an enemy to hide. She mentally cursed herself, remembering Fugaku and Akari' warning all those years ago when she picked the spot she had wanted to live at.

"Just fine, Itachi. Hey, do me a favor? Next time, don't almost get blown up just because of you letting your own guard down." She scolded him playfully. He grinned at her and nodded in agreement before they both went back to scanning the perimeter. A twig snapped and Eneko lashed out, only to stop her attack at the last moment, realizing it was only one of the deer that came to graze near their house. Itachi was scanning the surroundings with his sharingan when he threw a kunai at one specific tree and, as always, hit the mark. A small, surprised yelp came from behind it and Eneko ordered Anei and Retsu to surround it along with herself and Itachi. 

Eneko struck out with her fan, cutting the tree neatly in half down the middle. A blonde figure hid behind one of the fallen pieces of tree before Itachi, groaning in annoyance, walked over and dragged him into the clearing by the back of his shirt. Deidara had his arms crossed over his chest and was pouting as Itachi dragged him out in the open.

"I didn't mean to hurt anyone, yeah. I was only having some fun with you, Itachi! Come on, yeah, let me go now, the game's over." Deidara muttered as he was dragged and set down in front of Eneko, who had gone back over by Niji and Fushi. Eneko smirked at him and opened her mouth to give him an earful before Niji beat her to it. 

"Bad Uncle Deidara! You shouldn't try and blow people up! It's not nice to try and blow people up, Uncle Deidara! You should apologize and then be put into time out! Mommy! Stick him in the corner! He's been a bad, bad boy!" She ordered her mother, pointing down accusingly at Deidara. Fushi covered her mouth to stifle the giggles that were leaking out and Eneko nearly started laughing. Itachi and Deidara's mouths had popped open, hearing the little girl sound so much like her mother when she was on a rant. Eneko then grinned at Deidara, a crazy gleam in her green eyes and Deidara gulped nervously.

"Itachi, why don't you go and tell Tsunade what he did and let _her_ take care of his bombing self?" She suggested lightly to her husband who smirked at her. He started dragging the blonde down toward the hokage's office while said blonde clawed at the ground and yelled out for help. The rest of the group laughed before the tell tale plume of smoke told of visitors that couldn't bother with walking. Kakashi and Sasuke smiled at them and Niji's eyes lit up.

"Uncle Sasuke!" She called and ran over to hug him. He lifted her into the air and spun her around, causing her to giggle. The younger of the Uchihas looked over at Eneko, confused as he tickled his niece mercilessly while she was trapped in his arms.

"Where's Itachi going?" He asked. Eneko smiled and went over to save her daughter from her mercilessly playful biological uncle. Niji giggled while in her mother's arms and the two younger Uchihas made faces at each other before Sasuke chuckled and looked back up at his sister-in-law.

"Itachi went to go deliver Deidara to the hokage for playing a practical joke. And Sasuke, why didn't you tell me it was your day off, hm? I could have gotten you in for the little training session that I just gave team thirteen before Deidara ruined it." She smiled. Sasuke shrugged and explained in a mumble, causing Eneko to laugh softly. Niji looked over at Kakashi and blinked.

"Why do you always have your face covered up, Kakashi? Are you ugly?" She asked innocently. Kakashi sighed, his shoulders drooping while Eneko grinned over at him.

"I'll bet you anything in the world that I can get you to show me what's behind your mask, Kakashi." She challenged. He snapped out of his glum mood and smiled at her.

"And what do I get if I win?" He asked playfully. Eneko paused to think about it for a minute before shrugging and looking at him.

"I'll reenact one of the scenes from one of your Icha Icha books." She told him and he nodded without hesitation, holding his hand out as she shook it.

"Deal." Eneko grinned and nodded before disappearing with a small cloud of dust. She reappeared a few seconds later with a set of familiar bound books that made Kakashi sweat with fear. In the crazy kunoichi's hand she held his entire collection of Icha books. She used a few one handed seals with Niji on her shoulders and formed a fireball that she held dangerously close to the books. Kakashi held on though his nerve was breaking quickly. She moved the fireball even closer to the books and his nerve broke instantly. He waved his arms around.

"All right, all right! I'll show you just don't hurt my precious babies!" Kakashi cried. Eneko smirked and made the fireball disappear. Kakashi grabbed her wrist and teleported them out of the clearing and to Kakashi's home, where he immediately closed the blinds and lit a candle. He lifted up his headband, showing his sharingan eye and Eneko, who had grown somewhat immune to its affects, blinked at him, bored. 

"You're really going to make me do this?" He asked her. She nodded. "Wouldn't it just be nicer to keep the whole thing a secret?" She shook her head and he started pulling down his mask. He pulled down the first, and then the second, and finally he hesitated on the third and final layer.

"Do I _have_ to Eneko?" He tried once more and she glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at him. 

"Would you just get it over with, Kakashi?" The silver-haired man sighed and pulled down the final layer, showing off the face he kept hidden to everyone else. Eneko blinked in surprise, realizing that Kakashi was in fact quite handsome. Niji gasped.

"Kakashi isn't ugly, Mommy!" The little girl informed her mother. "Kakashi is very handsome." Eneko started laughing as Kakashi blushed and pulled the layers of his mask up again. 

"Can I just have my books back now?" He asked, humiliated that he now had a two-year-old calling him handsome. Eneko tossed him the books and waved a good-bye before teleporting herself back to her own house. Kakashi set the bundle on the bed and picked one up to read. As soon as he opened it, confetti and streamers popped out with two little chibi drawings of Eneko and Niji. It read: _These were fake, but thanks for showing us your face!_ Kakashi, alarmed, quickly looked under his bed and found that the whole of his collection was still there. His eyebrow twitched spasmodically. 

"Eneko! I'm going to get you for this one!" 


	10. Chapter 10

Promises Not Yet Kept Chapter Ten

"Leader-sama." A man with fiery red hair growled. "Just because the girl escaped and went back with a traitor doe _not_ mean that the rest of us are not loyal to your or to this organization. All of us _are_ loyal and none of us would even think about abandoning you or Akatsuki." He promised. Pein glowered over at him and Kisame sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms over his chest.

_You are wrong, Sasori. I am not staying in this organization one more day. Itachi told me that he, Eneko, and Deidara are all waiting for me to get out of the evils these people cause. I'm taking him up on it and getting to Konoha as soon as I get the chance._ The shark-like man thought fiercely to himself. During this chat, Pein had been glaring at each of the members left in turn. Kisame looked around the meeting table as well. All that were left were Sasori, Zetsu, Hidan, Kakuzu, Tobi, Pein, and himself. Deidara, Itachi, and Orochimaru had all abandoned the organization and Konan had been killed on her last mission. In all of their hearts, they knew that the Akatsuki was not to last, but all of them but one held on to the hope that they could find strong members to replace the traitorous ones. Pein let out an exasperated growl and slammed his hands on the table, causing some of the members to jump slightly before regaining their cool demeanor.

"It doesn't matter that the rest of you are loyal," Pein spat around the table, "what matters it that we desperately need more members. _Strong_ members." He glared ferociously at the chairs that were now empty. "Akatsuki is falling apart." He admitted with a sigh."

"Tobi will find new members for you, Leader-sama! Tobi is a good boy and will do what Leader-sama tells him to!" The orange-spiral masked man shouted enthusiastically. Everyone else at the table groaned while Pein threw a kunai at the masked man. Tobi automatically shut his mouth and kept it shut.

"Tobi, be a _good_ boy and don't annoy the leader again." Kakuzu advised him. Tobi nodded, this time being smart enough not to add voice to his agreement. Sasori sighed and shook his head, tired and Pein glared. Kisame looked up from his spot at the table.

"Maybe we should actually try _recruiting_ a jinchuuriki. They have power enough for our causes and then, either once we've gotten new members or the jinchuuriki proves their worth enough to bore us, we can take their bijuu." He suggested calmly. Pein paused for a moment, considering the new prospect. Finally, he nodded in approval and everyone visibly relaxed.

"I think that's for the best. Hidan, Kakuzu, you two will find a suitable jinchuuriki on your next mission. You leave tomorrow. Sasori and Tobi will go and find out if anyone knows were any more jinchuuriki are than that of those we don't know about. Have I been understood?" He asked. Everyone nodded. "Good. Meeting dismissed. Good thinking, Kisame. And let everyone now know that we are the new Akatsuki and we will not fall to anyone or anything ever again. " The orange-haired man promised with a sadistic grin. He turned and praised the shark-man with a pat on the back before leaving. Kisame nodded and walked quickly back to his quarters where he had already begun packing up his most precious possessions for a quick journey. As soon as he had stored the small pack into his cloak, he grabbed his samehada and left the room behind, knowing he would never see it again.

He opened the door to leave and took a long breath of fresh air before setting out, his hat over his head. Kisame was surprised nobody had questioned him leaving the building, but then again, everyone else was getting ready for missions while he was getting ready to run away. Unfortunately, the silence was not to last and he ran into Zetsu nearly at the border of the perimeter that they guarded so that no one found their base other than those that they wanted to find it. The plant man stopped him and Kisame nearly cursed his bad fortune and tried formulating a new plan to get himself out of this mess.

"Where are _you_ going, Kisame?" The bi-colored man asked the blue-skinned man with confusion. "I didn't hear Leader-sama give you any mission instructions during the meeting. You know that we're not supposed to leave the grounds without permission, Kisame…where are you going?" The man stared at him suspiciously and Kisame stared right back at him, trying to make this as convincing as humanly possible.

"Leader-sama brought me into his quarters after the meeting and gave me a private mission that I will be carrying out alone. You do remember that Konan's remains were never found after her last mission, do you not?" The shark-man asked accusingly. Zetsu recoiled, stunned and offended.

"I didn't realize that Leader-sama had entrusted you with such an important mission, Kisame. Please, forgive me and continue on. I wouldn't want to disobey one of Leader-sama's personal plans." He apologized and motioned him on his way. Kisame grunted and gave a swift nod before heading back out. As soon as he knew that he was out of the plant-man's eyesight, he began to run. Said physical activity was rather difficult with Samehada strapped onto his back, but he kept going.

For a while, he thought that he would make it without the Akatsuki even realizing that he had left, but as the walls of Konoha came into the distance, he heard footsteps falling behind him. The Akatsuki was coming to kill him and he knew it well. He had been on the other side when Deidara had tried to run back to Iwa before turning his course to Konoha. He ran with more urgency now than he had before, though he knew his time was quickly approaching.

He wondered briefly if this was how Deidara had felt when they had come to kill him. The feeling of knowing that you were being hunted as you ran, like prey to a predator. The protective walls of the leaf village were getting closer and closer and Kisame had a short-lived hope that he would make it, but it would not be so. He was suddenly attacked from all sides and gave back ten times what he was dealt. The shark-man left behind a few gashes that would defiantly leave scars. That was how they would remember him; Hoshigaki Kisame always went down fighting.

Pein came up behind him as he blocked an attack from Hidan's scythe and stabbed him, right beside his heart. It hurt, but it wasn't enough to kill and Kisame knew that Pein would make him suffer before his demise.

"You will be the first victim of the new revolution that is Akatsuki, Kisame. You were the one I trusted the most and you turned and threw the trust I had in you right back into my face. Feel privileged that I give you the honor of being killed by myself instead of one of your old teammates. And something else to think about…" He paused and put his mouth right beside Kisame's ear, chuckling cruelly. "Unlike our execution of the traitor Deidara, I will make sure that you will not be alive for anyone to find and heal you…You…are…dead…" He whispered before twisting the kunai within Kisame's body. The shark-man let out a cry of pain and suddenly, Pein sliced his whole chest open and tossed him on the ground.

Kisame felt the blood rush out of him like river in a stream and he felt the blood trickling out the side of his mouth and he smiled. He was glad that he could die now, a free man, instead of in battle, bound by the ways of the Akatsuki. He was glad to die knowing he was at least someone that had enough courage to turn their backs on an organization that caused as much pain as this one had. Kisame allowed the darkness to crawl into his vision and he knew the breaths he was taking were his very last and he savored them.

"Pein…" he wheezed. "You will die by Uchiha Eneko's hands…and when you do…I will laugh at you from the other world…" And with those final words, the shark-like man fell eternally silent. Pein threw down the kunai that he had used to kill him and spit at his corpse before leaving him there, on the edge of the road. The red clouded cloaked organization members were heading back to base to plan for the future of Akatsuki, though they now fell one more member short.

Eneko hummed a soft tune to herself as she walked down a peaceful forest road. It was the first mission that she had been allowed on since being injured at Akatsuki. Her team members, Deidara and Itachi, had gone on ahead to scout out the area so that she could have a little time to herself outside of the city. She smiled softly to herself as she remembered both of their reactions when they had been told they would be escorting her on her mission. Both of them had immediately fallen overly protective of her, fussing at every little thing she did until she had used her wind jutsu to give herself some space, laughing.

She fingered the necklace that Kisame had given her with Itachi's organization ring and smiled, thanking him mentally for giving her hope through all of the dark times inside the cell walls of Akatsuki. She looked up to see if she could see her teammates anywhere close, wondering if she should run to catch up with them. The wind user saw Itachi and Deidara up ahead, examining something on the side of the road. She stopped dead in her tracks as she realized that the something was a dead corpse.

She sighed softly and ran her fingers through her hair, figuring that the body belonged to a villager or traveler that had been caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was right after this thought that she saw the Akatsuki cloak and the bandaged sword laying beside the body, forgotten in the dust. Her eyes widen and it seemed as if the breath had just decided to leave her body. Suddenly, she found the will to move and rushed forward as fast as her legs would carry her. Deidara and Itachi both looked up quickly as she approached and the blonde man stood up to block her path. She ran straight into him and held her back tightly within his arms. Eneko sobbed heavily as she saw how badly they had ravaged her friend's body.

"Kisame!" She screamed in pure agony. "Please don't let it be true! Kisame! No! Kisame!" She screamed, sobbing. Deidara held her back as gently as he could and she began to tremble heavily with the shock of finding his body like that. Itachi stood up and had Kisame's pack of belongings in his hand. He walked over to Eneko and she broke free of Deidara and began to cry into his strong chest as his strong arms encircled her. Deidara and Itachi shared a heartrending look before Itachi began rubbing Eneko's back gently.

"It looks as if he had been trying to get to us when he was killed…" He whispered to her as gently as he could. Eneko let out another sob and broke free of his grasp and kneeled down beside Kisame's cold body. She brushed the dirt off of his face tenderly and a single tear traveled down her face as the wind blew her hair.

"Good bye…my friend…rest in peace…"


	11. Chapter 11

Promises Not Yet Kept Promises Not Yet Kept Chapter Eleven

Eneko had done extremely poorly on their mission even though she tried her hardest. Her heart wasn't in the mission any longer and she was still mourning for Kisame. Deidara and Itachi had picked up her slack because they understood and they were both mourning Kisame in their own way. Just before they were set to head back to Konoha, Itachi and Deidara went into Eneko's room to make sure the wind-user was ready. They found her kneeling at the window with her eyes closed and her hands clasped together in a praying position. A single tear fell down her cheek and more followed the longer they watched, so Itachi went over to her and pulled her up to him. She leaned into his embrace and began to cry. Itachi and Deidara shared a troubled look before Itachi put his head on top of Eneko's.

"Eneko, Kisame wouldn't want you to cry like this. He wouldn't want you to throw your life away and mourn for him. I know that he would want you to be happy and move on with your life." He murmured soothingly. Eneko cried harder, remember the time when she and Kisame had been sitting in her cell and he had said something almost like that to her. She shook her head and sobbed.

"You don't understand." She finally choked out. She looked up at him, then over at Deidara and both of them could see the heart wrenching pain in her green eyes and flinched. "You just don't understand! The only reason that I didn't die while sitting in that cell at the Akatsuki base was because of Kisame…He's the only one who stood up for me and made sure that Pein wouldn't kill me…And when it was my turn…I couldn't repay him for saving my life. I wasn't there when he needed me. I wasn't there to save him…I was too late…" She whispered, breaking away from Itachi's grasp and turning away. Deidara's gaze hardened and he walked straight over to Eneko and slapped her. Itachi grabbed Deidara by the collar and glared at him.

"Deidara, that was way out of line! Can't you see that she's in pain? Are you trying to be heartless by slapping her?" He snarled at his friend. Deidara pushed him away and grabbed Eneko's chin, forcing her to look at him. She had a hand over her cheek and was staring openly, shocked to the point of speechlessness.

"Listen here, Eneko and you listen good, yeah." He told her forcefully, making her stare straight into his eyes. "Kisame was a good friend and he knew the risks he was taking when he decided to leave. He was there when they nearly killed me but I made it to Konoha. Just because you weren't there, because you didn't know, does _not_ mean that you should blame yourself for not saving him. All that means is that you never had the chance. Pein made sure that he was dead before he left him there on the side of the road. He made _sure_ that you wouldn't be able to save him, so stop trying to think that you could have even had a chance! You have people here that care about you and don't want to see you cry anymore and you have a daughter at home that needs you to be happy and raise her right. So stop killing yourself by grieving and let Kisame's spirit rest in peace!" Deidara ordered, getting so into his speech that his normal 'yeah' or 'un' was missing. Eneko stared at him for the longest time before turning, picking up her things that were sitting in the corner of her room, and leaving. 

"Deidara." Itachi growled at him from the other side of the room. "She will now be even more depressed because you yelled at her. You _know_ that Eneko has been under a lot of stress with Pein trying to take her over on a regular basis and Niji growing up and making sure that everyone she cares about is safe. She's just mourning a lost friend. Can you not just give her a break? Do you feel that you of all people have the right to yell at her?" Itachi growled at him. Deidara shrugged, annoyed, and picked his things back up.

"Someone needed to snap her out of it and everyone know that you wouldn't have had the guts to do it." The blonde responded as he left. Itachi scrambled after him, shouldering his own pack. They caught up to Eneko as she walked back down the road to Konoha. She opened her mouth and began to sing a song that lifted everyone's spirits around her and put them in a better mood, including herself. She then turned and smiled at the both of them, walking backwards.

"You were right, Deidara. I have to move on and let Kisame rest in peace. And if Pein tries to hurt anyone that I hold precious again…" She clenched her fist and grinned. "…He will be the next one rotting on the side of the road." She vowed. Deidara shot a smug look at Itachi, but he was too busy rushing forward and spinning Eneko around, glad that the one he loved was back to her old self.

"I'm so glad, Eneko! You're back to the way you should be again. This is the Ene-koi that I love." He kissed her and she laughed. "Now we can go home and Niji will jump on us and then things will finally get back to normal at long last." She kissed him this time and grinned up at him.

"Oh, Itachi, normal is so overrated. Why don't we try and make our lives even _more_ crazy and see how that one goes." She laughed as Itachi stared at her, shocked and Deidara let out a groan. They all continued down the road and stopped to camp nearby. The next morning they got up and set off again and as they approached the spot where they had buried Kisame, Eneko kneeled down beside his grave. 

"I promise you, Kisame, that I will carry your memory with me always. Thank you for being such a good friend…may your spirit know that I am safe and rest in peace." She stood and wiped a single tear from her face. "Because I will never forget, nor regret, something that made me smile…and the times we spent together made me smile, Kisame…" She let out a small sob but smiled through the tears. "Thank you…so much." Itachi wrapped his arms around her and she smiled at him, causing him to smile back. 

"Let's go home, Ene-koi." She nodded and interlaced her fingers with his. They walked straight back to Konoha and, upon entering the city, went straight to the hokage's office. They knew that the sooner they reported, the sooner they would get go home and see their daughter or in Deidara's case, niece. Eneko reached for the knob and hesitated, suddenly growing nervous. Deidara looked at her.

"What's wrong Eneko, yeah?" He asked with a confused look. She looked at him, then at the floor, looking almost ashamed of herself.

"She's going to find out that I screwed up during the mission and she's going to blame it on me being hurt instead of me not being in my right mind. I'm never going to get to go on a mission ever again…" She fretted nervously. Deidara shook his head at her, as if she were a child and being silly.

"No, Eneko, this is Tsunade we're talking about. You're blood related and she likes you, so she won't do anything to hurt you, yeah." He responded. Itachi shook his head and looked down at her.

"And if she asks, Deidara and I just decided to do most of the work ourselves so that you wouldn't strain yourself so early, even though we knew you wouldn't. So it's going to be okay, all right?" He asked her. She nodded and he opened the door, leading her in gently. Tsunade sat at her desk, signing papers and looked up at them as they came in.

"Report." She ordered. All three jounin saluted and stood straight up, though Eneko averted her gaze from Tsunade's. She looked at her, suspicious, but waited for the report anyway before asking any questions. 

"Mission a complete success, Tsunade-sama." Itachi reported. Deidara started reporting the mission details while a sinisterly cold feeling washed over Eneko. She felt as if she was being watched and kept glancing over her shoulder nervously. Itachi looked at her, concerned and squeezed her hand to calm her down. She jumped at his touch before calming down slightly. As the report started winding down to a close, a stabbing pain suddenly entered her chest, right beside her heart. She let out a small cry and clutched the fabric right above where the pain was. Itachi glanced at her again.

"Eneko, are you all right?" Her husband asked her, concern lacing his quiet voice. The other two in the room looked over at them, confusion and concern on their faces. Eneko was having trouble breathing but nodded and waved them on to continue, smiling weakly to enforce the fact that she was fine.

"Yeah, of course. I'm just fine." She wheezed. "Please, just continue. I'll be just fine." She promised. Suddenly the pain intensified and her eyes widened. She collapsed into a heap on the floor and if felt like something was twisting inside her.

**Feel the pain of a traitor, Eneko….** The green-eyed kunoichi heard Pein's voice in her head. She cried out in pain and Itachi was immediately down on the floor beside her, trying to comfort her and Tsunade rushed over to see what was wrong. Blackness was crowding at the edge of her vision and then the feeling spread and she felt as if her whole chest was being ripped open from the inside out. She screamed in pain and Deidara then rushed over to see what he could do. The pain suddenly subsided and left as quickly as it had come. 

"Uchiha! Don't pass out, do you hear me, Eneko?" Tsunade was yelling. She groaned and then turned her head, trying to catch the breath that had been stolen from her. 

"What's wrong with her, Tsunade? She didn't get hurt at all on the mission and there wasn't anything wrong with her chest when she came back from Akatsuki." Itachi was telling Tsunade, nervously. Eneko tried to speak, but all that came out was a weak squeaky sound and Itachi propped her up so that she could better breathe. 

"Kisame…Pein…" She wheezed finally. Itachi's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and Tsunade backed herself and Deidara up so that Eneko could breathe. She swallowed and it helped to soothe her scratched throat. "Pein knew how Kisame felt when he had been killed. I know it was Pein that killed him, Itachi…" She explained and Itachi grasped her hand gently. "That sadist caused me to feel the same pain that Kisame had felt…" Tsunade nodded, glaring at the wall. The golden-haired hokage was always upset when Eneko mentioned Pein's control over her because Tsunade couldn't figure out any way to help her. 

"I'm fine now, so if someone could help me to stand up, we can get back on with our day." Itachi granted her request; all the while muttering about stupid orange-haired freaks that had nothing better to do than torture innocent families. Eneko smiled slightly.

"Are you _sure_ you're all right, Eneko-chan, yeah?" Deidara asked her with a concerned glance. She smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, Deidara. I'm fine." She promised him. She suddenly gained the cold feeling again and her eyes narrowed. 

**But is your little daughter safe and fine…? What was her name now…Niji?** Pein laughed viciously within her head her eyes snapped open. Shizune suddenly came bursting through the door, panting as if she had run a long distance.

"Tsunade-sama! The Uchiha house is on fire!" She yelled. 


	12. Chapter 12

Promises Not Yet Kept

Chapter Twelve

Eneko hadn't even stuck around to hear the rest of Shizune's frantic report. She had been gone as soon as Shizune had finished with her initial sentence. Eneko kept on running until she was standing in front of what used to be her home. Her eyes were alight with the fire reflecting in them as she looked at the blazing inferno that had withstood so many different memories. She then remembered Pein's warning and without a second thought, plunged straight into the fire, ignoring the flames licking hungrily at her flesh. She immediately started to cough at the amount of smoke entering her lungs all at once and pushed forward, stumbling around the burning remains of memories floating about in the breeze.

"Niji! Niji where are you? Honey, it's me! Your mother! Honey, please, say something so I'll know where you are!" She yelled as loud as she could. A noise that sounded like a response came from behind the door leading to Niji's room and she tried to grasp the knob, but it was too hot. She pressed herself against it, testing its limits and coughed violently, getting ash smeared all over her tired form.

"Get away from the door, Niji!" She yelled as a warning before spinning around and, getting enough momentum, kicked the door off its hinges. Niji coughed and Eneko ran into the room. The little girl cried and latched onto Eneko's leg. She kneeled down and hugged the little girl tightly, nearly crying herself because she was only relieved that her daughter was safe. Both of them were covered with ash and soot and Eneko's hair was so covered in the stuff that it looked like Eneko and Niji were practically copies of each other. Eneko coughed violently and Niji shook like a leaf, screaming as part of the ceiling suddenly fell down.

"Mommy, I'm scared!" She sobbed into her mother's shirt. Eneko quickly analyzed the situation and thought of the best way to get them out of the blazing firestorm that was her house.

"Listen Niji. I'm not entirely sure that I can pull this off. If it doesn't then I'm going to try my very hardest to get you out of here safely, but you're going to get hurt. Do you trust me?" She asked her daughter, having to yell over the roar of the fire. Niji nodded without a second guess. "I need you to be very brave for me, okay, Niji? Even braver than you were with Akatsuki!" Niji tried to put on a brave face and nodded. Eneko smiled and ruffled her hair.

"I'm going to try hard, Mommy!" She promised. Eneko's smile grew and she performed a few hand seals. She closed her eyes, summoning all the chakra she could spare in the hopes that this would work.

"Water style! Deafening Tsunami Wave!" She yelled. A whole wave of water crashed around the two girls, but even that wasn't enough to stop the fire. It weakened though, for some of the wood it was trying to consume was now wet. Eneko panted heavily, exhausted, and picked her daughter up gently.

"Hold on, baby girl. I'm going to get you out of here, no matter what. Just hold on to me tightly." She told her daughter and held on to her tightly. As soon as Niji returned the tight squeeze Eneko summoned all the chakra that she had access to and directed it to her legs. She ran toward the weakest blazing wall and crashed into it, sailing straight out. She rolled on the ground for a couple feet before stopping and closing her eyes, exhausted. Niji, alarmed, tried to shake her to keep her awake.

"Mommy! Don't sleep! Mommy, get up!" The little girl ordered her mother, screaming. Eneko smiled and grabbed her daughter's hands, stopping the young girl's shaking.

"Don't worry, honey, I'm alright. Everything is going to be all right. Don't worry…" Eneko murmured softly to her daughter through a scratched throat. "Everything is going to get better." She promised. Niji looked back at the flaming house far away from them now and shook her head.

"But hour house is gone, Mommy. Where are we going to live now?" Niji asked, worry evident in her big green eyes. Eneko ruffled her hair again and smiled.

"We're going to be okay, Niji. When something like this happens at any time in your life I want you to remember these words, all right?" Niji nodded. "Every story may have it's end, but in life, every end is just a new beginning." Niji smiled.

"I like that." Eneko smiled and was about to reply before her eyes widened and she sat up, her hand grasping the fan in the holster around her waist.

"What loving words coming from the mouth of a loving mother." A voice sounded in the forest surrounding the area. Pein stepped out of the bushes and Eneko stood, fans at the ready to attack. She charged at him, snapping the fans open with an audible crack. Niji watched with wide eyes before realizing that her mommy really needed her daddy's help. She started running back to the fire that was her house and saw her Uncle Deidara holding her Daddy back and keeping him from going into the house.

"Deidara let me go! My wife and daughter are in that fire! You've got to let me save them!" She heard her father yell. Her uncle shook his head and kept holding him back.

"If they are in there, Itachi, there's nothing that you can do now! Just wait! Eneko won't die that easily!" Deidara yelled back at him. Niji figured that now was as good a time as any to run towards her father.

"Daddy!" She cried as she ran. Itachi's eyes snapped open to her and Deidara let him go, shocked. He ran to meet her and scooped her into his arms. He took a good, long look at her before hugging her tightly.

"Oh, Niji, I was so afraid that I was going to loose you!" He stopped and looked around. "Where's you mother?" He asked, nervously. Niji pointed back from the direction that she came and tugged on his shirt, trying to get him to go that way.

"Hurry, Daddy! I was just in the house but then it caught on fire and everything was hot and the door was hot, so I couldn't get out! Mommy came in and broke the door down so that I could get out and she tried to pour water over everything, Daddy, but it didn't work. She picked me up and told me to hang on and then she broke through the wall and we rolled all the way over there and the orange haired guy came out and Mommy tried to attack him and now they're fighting and you've got to help her!" Niji yelled all in one breath. Itachi's eyes widened.

"Where, Niji? Where is your mother fighting Pein – the orange haired guy?" He corrected himself. Niji jumped down from his arms and started trying to drag him away. Itachi looked over at Deidara. "Can you handle everything here?" Deidara nodded and motioned for him to leave. The firefighters were mostly concerned about controlling the blaze so that it didn't spread to Deidara's house nearby. Unfortunately, Deidara made a lot of sculptures with exploding clay and if the fire reached it then the whole village would go up in smoke.

"This way, Daddy! Come on! Hurry! Mommy needs your help, Daddy, come on!" Niji was yelling at her father as she dragged him along. She finally led him to the clearing where her mother and Pein were fighting. Itachi's eyes widened as he saw that, because of chakra exhaust, Eneko was now loosing the fight. Suddenly, Pein grabbed Eneko's throat and caused her to look into his eyes. He performed a one-handed seal and suddenly Eneko screamed, her eyes fading to a dull black. Pein released her and looked over at Itachi.

"You're too late, Itachi. Eneko is mine now. See for yourself." He grabbed Eneko's arm and faced her towards her family. "Eneko. I order you to attack the little girl first. Kill her." Eneko raised her fans into attack position, but Itachi stepped in front of Niji.

"Eneko! Snap out of it! You can't attack your own daughter!" He yelled. Eneko charged forward, ignoring every word Itachi spoke and Itachi charged forward. They met in a clash of weapons and, in a desperate attempt to bring her back to him, Itachi pressed his lips against hers. Her eyes flickered back to green and she let out a whimper. Pein used the hand seal again, only with two hands this time, and her eyes flickered back to black. She kicked Itachi in the stomach, throwing him back towards Niji and raised her fans again.

"I will destroy you because my leader told me to." She threatened, having an almost robotic voice. Itachi coughed, winded, and Niji tried to help him back up.

"Daddy! Why's Mommy acting all crazy like that? She's not supposed to kick you! She says that kicking is mean!" Niji yelled. Itachi's eyes hardened as he looked at Eneko's battle-ready form.

"That woman is not your mother, Niji. She's just a woman that looks like your mother." Niji gave him a disbelieving look.

"Then why did you kiss her?" She asked with a frown. Itachi's spine stiffened before he slammed his head against the heel of his hand.

"I'll tell you when you're older, Niji, now hide while I get rid of the bad guys." He ordered her. She immediately hid behind a fallen tree, almost invisible to the other side of the battlefield. Itachi got to his feet and pulled out a few kunai knives.

"Eneko. I order you to kill Itachi." Pein commanded, using the hand seal again. Eneko didn't move. Itachi smirked. Apparently, Pein was having trouble controlling his Eneko, which wasn't surprising. Pein had threatened her family and Eneko had sworn to kill him if he did such. It proved too much for the exhausted girl to handle and she charged forward again. Itachi charged forward to meet her and their movements were all but blurs to the naked eye. They matched each other fluidly in weapon strength and Pein cursed, realizing that he had made a mistake.

"Itachi and Eneko know each other so well that their fighting techniques are easily determined to each other." He muttered to himself crossly. Eneko was tossed aside and stayed on the ground, completely drained of energy. Pein glared at her, a crazy gleam in his eyes. "What are you doing, Eneko? Stay up! Keep fighting!" He used the hand seal and she got to her feet, panting heavily. Itachi wanted desperately for her to break free, but he knew that she was too tired to even try. The battle began again and Itachi kept noticing weak points in Eneko's defenses and exploiting them. He knocked her down again and this time went for Pein, locking gazes with him. Itachi grinned evilly as he planned his next move. He was ashamed of having this technique because it reminded him of what he did, but it helped in situations like this one.

"Mangekyo Sharingan! Tsukuyomi!" Itachi yelled. Suddenly it was only Pein and he couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Itachi's form faded in and out around him. "Welcome to Tsukuyomi, Pein. In this world, I control time, space, and even physical mass. It's your turn to experience the torture that you have caused so many people." Itachi suddenly multiplied into a thousand of himself and all of the Itachis rushed forward in a heap and stabbed Pein in different places of his body. Pein cried out with all the pain going through his body at once and this torture went on for multiple days. Finally, when the colors all faded back to normal, Pein collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

"That is what you get for harming my family." Pein chuckled deeply and glared up at Itachi.

"Family? Your family, Itachi, is it? Watch and see what your family can do to you while your back is turned." Itachi's eyes widened and suddenly a kunai was embedded deep within his back. He spun around and fought off an exhausted Eneko, who looked as if she were dead on his feet. Niji let out a whimper when she saw her father get stabbed and Pein's gaze snapped over to her. He began trying to heal himself, not caring if it cut years off of his life. He knew what kind of plan he was formulating now, and he didn't care what happened any more.

"Eneko! Eneko please, snap out of it and quit this guy's torture of your body! You can fight it Eneko, you're strong. You're the strongest woman I know and you're the woman I fell in love with! Remember, Eneko? Remember the time under the waterfall? Remember why our daughter's name is Niji?" Eneko merely attacked him again, using what chakra she had left to attack him. Itachi dodged easily and kept on forcing her down, but she kept getting back up. She looked dead on her feet, but she was still glaring with a dull black-eyed stare. Itachi nearly cried out with frustration and he noticed that Pein was just focusing on healing himself, and grinned. He jumped toward Eneko and pressed his lips onto hers again, petting her hair gently. Eneko's eyes flickered back to normal and she leaned against him heavily, exhausted.

"Eneko…oh, Eneko, you're back…" He whispered, relieved. She laughed softly and smiled at him weakly. Pein looked over and glared. This wasn't fitting in with his plan. He used the hand seal and Eneko clutched either side of her head, trying to fight it. Her eyes faded to a dull green, but that was as far as she got.

"One more thing, Eneko, before I let you go forever. Blow Itachi to the other side of the clearing." Pein ordered. Eneko lifted her fan, obviously trying to fight herself. She waved her fan and gale-force winds blew Itachi off the ground and he landed heavily on the ground, winded, and didn't get up for a minute. Eneko's eyes instantly turned back to green and she fell to her knees, completely and totally drained of usable chakra. Pein smirked and stood up. He slowly pulled out a kunai and looked straight into Itachi's dark eyes.

"This kunai, Itachi…" He smirked as her eyes widened. "This kunai is going straight into your daughter's tender flesh." He began running at top speeds toward the fallen tree where Niji was hiding. Itachi stood and began running, but he let out a cry as he realized that he couldn't get to her in time. Eneko looked over and realized that she could, but she wouldn't be able to stop the attack. She looked over at Itachi and smiled, a tear falling down her face.

"I'm not scared. This is what I was born for." She told him and took off running. The kunai was brought down and Niji let out a terrified scream. Blood spurted onto the young girl's face as the kunai sank into her mother's heart. The little girl met her mother's eyes and Eneko smiled at her, blood trickling down the side of her mouth. Pein was laughing manically and Itachi kept running, trying to get there in enough time to save Eneko from bleeding out. Eneko dropped her fans next to Niji and pulled out a kunai. She sunk it deep into Pein's heart, causing him to stop laughing and gasp in pain.

"You can't beat me!" He cried, loosing his life energy first. Eneko glared at him, twisting the kunai painfully.

"I can…and I will…. this is for Kisame and all the other people you've killed for your selfish reasons…I will destroy you and protect the people I hold precious to me." She spat blood into his face. Itachi finally made it over to them and Niji held onto him, crying.

"Itachi…take care of our daughter…I'm always…with you…." She whispered to him painfully. She turned back to Pein and her life chakra sparked around her. Itachi had tears winding their way down his face. When someone's life chakra appears, they are close to dying, but refuse to let it happen. "I will take him…far away…. where even if dead…he will never be…able to harm…anyone…again…" She promised. She whispered a technique name and suddenly Eneko and Pein were both transported away. Itachi cried out and tried to grasp where she once stood. The wind blew across the clearing and the two figures stood alone.

"I love you…" Eneko's voice whispered on the wind. Itachi broke down crying and fell to his knees.

"Eneko! Eneko! Come back to me! Eneko! Don't leave us all alone! ENEKO!" He cried. Deidara came up with back up just then and noticed both of them crying and Eneko nowhere to be seen. Tsunade rushed forward, tears streaming down her face as she met eyes with Itachi. The pain in his eyes was enough to tell her what happened. Eneko had just sacrificed herself to protect all of them. Pein would never bother anyone again. Niji looked up at her father and wiped the tears off of his face.

"M-Mommy told me that whatever happens, things will get better, Daddy. Mommy's going to come home, no matter how long it takes. She's going to come home." Itachi sobbed desperately and hugged his innocent daughter tight to his chest. All Niji could do was look up at the sky and smile, remembering what her mother had last said to her.

_Every story may have it's end, but in life, every end is just a new beginning_

**-- -- The End -- --**


	13. NOTE!

**Note to all readers Note to all readers!!**

**This is again, Kulani Tawanoki with an important message! THIS WILL BE A TRILOGY…if not more….>.> The third book/fic will be called Dreams Unbroken and will take place ten years after the end of Promises Not Yet Kept. Niji still hasn't given up the fact that her mother will come back and only a few people believe her.**

**Look forward to it! It's going to be awesome!!**


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